Writing Africa: Archiving African and Black Literature

Patrick Mondiano: Nope, never heard of him either.

French author Patrick Mondiano wins the Nobel Prize for Literature 2014

French author Patrick Mondiano is the author of this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature for 2014. We specialise in African literature here at JamesMurua.com and we were pining for our Ngugi Wa Thiong’o who had been said to be in the running this year. Again. It was not to be. Again.
So who is this Patrick Modiano? Wiki describes him as a French novelist who isn’t a stranger to winning having gone home with the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française and the Prix Goncourt. He has also been given a lifetime achievement award by the Institut de France with the Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca in 2010 as well as the 2012 Austrian State Prize for European Literature. This year’s prize is his biggest award.
We are left with our Ngugi as being a front-runner for the prize again next if history is to be followed.

Some reaction to the non-win by Ngugi

And Ngugi wa Thiong’o has missed the 2014 @NobelPrize for Literature! Awarded to a French writer Patrick Modiano. A luta continua.

— BitQuail (@Davidkimondo) October 9, 2014

French author Patrick Modiano wins the eight million kronor (£691,000) for won the #NobelPrize2014 for literature. #Ngugi still waiting.

— Jalada Africa (@JaladaAfrica) October 9, 2014

“@Nduta__: Huh, who?”Patrick Modiano 😀

— #DearDoris (@arungaian) October 9, 2014

He did not win? YES! YESSSSS! — Ivory Punk (@IvoryPunk) October 9, 2014

BREAKING >> Ngugi did not win the Nobel Prize for Literature — AFRICA IS A COUNTRY (@AfricasaCountry) October 9, 2014

DAMN Wikipedia is too fast in updating major stuff. That Nobel Prize in Literature was the fastest update, I have ever encountered.

— Silas Nyanchwani (@nyanchwani) October 9, 2014

White men stay winning. #NobelPrize #WereAllThinkingIt

— Nanjala Writes (@Nanjala1) October 9, 2014

IMMA LET YOU FINISH, shouts Kanye in Gikuyu as he pushes through the press of Swedish journalists , BUT NGUGI WAS ROBBED — Student Loans (@zunguzungu) October 9, 2014

Kenya’s Ngugi wa’Thiongo misses out on the Nobel prize for Literature again. It goes to French novelist Patrick Mondiano (qui?)

— Rebecca Davis (@becsplanb) October 9, 2014

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Comments

4 responses to “French author Patrick Mondiano wins the Nobel Prize for Literature 2014”

  1. Mb avatar
    Mb

    Patrick Modiano is a very well known author. For people to say, “Who is he??” is just ignorant. And the idiot who said, “White men stay winning”…the Parisian literary circles have been giving awards to African and Antillean authors for years. To act as if only white people have been winning, and as if some unknown person won (when in reality it’s a very well known and brilliant writer) is just ridiculous. I’m unfollowing this blog now.

    Reply
    1. murua avatar
      murua

      Thanks for the comment Mb. The Winner is not universally known so you can’t blame anyone. Modiano is notorious for avoiding media so those who know him know him for the work which is mainly in French. As for that assertion that a lot of the winners are white and male perhaps you want to look at the stats. It will be illuminating.
      We shall miss you here at JamesMurua .com.

      Reply
  2. Mb avatar
    Mb

    If you want to talk in an educated way about white men winning versus black men, then do that without making ignorant statements like, “Who is Patrick Modiano?!” Or does Anglophone literature count more than Francophone literature? And JMG Le Clezio has written extensively about non-white populations. But we should mourn his win too, since it means a black man didn’t win, right? Ignorant.

    Reply
  3. Mb avatar
    Mb

    As for “you can’t blame anyone,” that’s so ridiculous for a learned man like yourself to say, sir. Your caption is rude beyond belief: “Patrick Mondiano: Nope, never heard of him either.” I’d say it’s your fault if you haven’t read a very famous author’s books. Not his fault, yours. Because unless you only look at writers’ media attention, their WORKS are supposed to be considered, not their YouTube channel. Ridiculous.

    Reply

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