Lobé Ndiaye was announced the winner of the Grand Prix littéraire Dada Gbêhanzin 2019 for her novel Une perle en Radiant in Porto-Novo, Benin on Saturday, September 28, 2019.
Dada Gbèhanzin, born in 1838, was a legendary leader in Dahomey, now Benin, before he was cruelly deposed by French colonialists. This great leader, who passed away in 1906, has been honoured in Benin’s literature with the Grand Prix littéraire Dada Gbêhanzin for French-speaking African writers. This was the first year of the prize that was to be awarded at the Bénin Livres (Benin Book Fair).
The award was judged by a panel chaired by Adrien Huannou, a specialist in book publishing and distribution. There were ten works written by different authors from five countries in the running for the Grand Prix littéraire Dada Gbêhanzin. They were;
- Un temps pour toute chose by Exaucé Elvin Ngaba Nsilou, Congo.
- Les Rongeurs de troncs by Denis-Ghislain Mbessa, Burkina Faso.
- À la cueillette des voies lactée by Gaëtan Ngoua, France.
- Nethio, Douceurs Et Merveilles Du Mballax by Seydi Sow, Senegal
- Une perle en éclats by Lobé Ndiaye, Senegal
- La tragédie du Damel Macodou by Alioune Badara Beye, Senegal
- Murmure de la mémoire written by Amadou Lamine Ba, Senegal.
- Au convent convent chien by Gildas Ounsou, Benin
- Achou, l’amour empoisonné by André-Marie Gbenou, Benin
- Béhanzin, le panthéon africain de la résistance by Eustache Agounkpé, Benin
The winner of the award announced on Saturday September 28, 2019 during the closing ceremony of the Bénin Livres was Senegalese writer and director Lobé Ndiaye. Une perle en Radian was published by Senegalese publisher L’Harmattan Dakar in 2017. You can read the biography of the writer in full here.
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