Dibakana Mankessi wins Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique 2024

Dibakana Mankessi wins Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique 2024

Dibakana Mankessi’s novel Le Psychanalyste De Brazzaville is the winner of Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique 2024; the announcement was made in a ceremony in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday, May 19, 2024.   

Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique (Orange Book Prize in Africa) rewards a fiction text written in French by an African writer from a publishing house based on the continent since 2018. The African Cultural Agency organises it alongside the Orange Foundation, the French Institute, UNESCO, OIF, AFD, and DHL. Previous winners have been Michele Rakotoson, Djaïli Amadou Amal, Youssouf Amine Elalamy, and Yamen Manai.

The jury for 2024 was chaired by author and academic Veronique Tadjo alongside Yvan Amar (Radio France journalist), Kidi Bebey (Le Monde journalist, publisher, and author, France), Yahia Belaskri (writer and journalist, Algeria), Mamadou Camara (novelist and president of the association “LesFRIDIS DU LIVRE”, Senegal ), Eugène Ebodé (writer, Cameroon), Prudentienne Houngnibo Gbaguidi (vice-president of the AILF, Benin), Valérie Marin la Meslée (journalist, Le Point, France), Nicolas Michel (journalist Jeune Afrique, France), Nétonon Noël Ndékéry (author, Chad), Gabriel Mwènè Okoundji (psychologist and poet, Congo), Ariane Poissonnier (RFI journalist, France), and Yamen Manai (2022 winner, Tunisia).

The finalists for the award were revealed on March 14 before the winner was announced at the Salon International de l’Edition et du Livre (SIEL-2024) in Rabat. The winner is Le Psychanalyste De Brazzaville, Dibakana Mankessi (Congo) published by Les Lettres Moutées.

The president of the jury for the 6th edition of the Orange Book Prize in Africa, Véronique Tadjo, noted, that Dibakana Mankessi demonstrated great literary ambition in this very ingenious novel supported by very beautiful writing, noting that “his story tells us of an Africa after independence in the 1960s, as well as of all the upheavals, the illusions, the joys and everything that will mark the future of Africa”.

Speaking on Facebook afterward Mankessi said, “I am the Laureate of the “Orange Prize of the Book in Africa 2024” for Le Psychanalyste de Brazzaville. Big thanks.”

It’s a good year for the writer whose text also won Grand Prix Littéraire d’Afrique Noire 2023 in March. Watch a report on the story below;

Please consider supporting the work we do at Writing Africa with a one-off donation or regularly on Mobile Money, PayPal, or Patreon. Click here for information on how to support our work.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.