From the Library of
Congress in Washington D.C.
[ Silence ]
>> On behalf of the African Middle
Eastern Division and our chief,
who is out of the country
and all my colleagues,
I with you all the warmest of
welcomes to today's program.
The African Middle Eastern
Division here at the Library
of Congress is responsible
for developing the collection
and providing reference
about some 78 countries.
And when I say developing the
collection it's that we recommend
for acquisition in all formats
material from all of Africa,
the Arab world, Turkey, Turkic
Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan,
the Muslims in China,
Russia, and the Balkans.
Our responsibilities
cover some 78 countries.
I'm Chris Murphy, I'm the head
of the Near East Section here
and I'm acting chief in Dr.
Mary Jane Deeb's absence.
And Mary Jane, along with the
Office of Poetry and Literature here
and the Africa Society
have developed this program
of conversations with
African writers
and I can tell you Mary
Jane is personally,
and I completely realize why, she
is so proud of these programs.
I mentioned the development of the
collections, while the staff does
that it also provides reference,
that is access to the materials
that we've acquired, 1 other
task that we have here is
that of outreach and by outreach we
mean making available to the public,
both scholarly and
general the materials
that we have collected here and
also a certain amount of knowledge
about the cultures of the areas
for which we are responsible.
And this particular set of
presentations is designed
to really make the culture
of literature in Africa known
to the broad public, and
not just the American public
but a worldwide public because
this program will be videotaped
and will later be mounted on
the Library of Congress website,
a website that receives
some 4 billion hits per year
from all over the world.
So the presenters are,
you know, speaking really
to a worldwide audience,
far beyond the people here.
Mary Jane has been particularly
thankful to Robert Casper
of the Poetry Office
and to Bernadette Paolo
of the Africa Society for
their immense assistance
in making this event today and the
other conversations with artists
and poets and writers possible.
And with that, I will now turn
it over to Matthew Blakley,
who is representing Rob Casper
today, so Rob, or, Matthew.
>> Thank you very much Chris.
And thanks to both the Africa
Society of the National Summit
on Africa and the African and Middle
Eastern Division of the library.
Again, my name is Matt Blakley and
I am the program support assistant
of the library, of the Poetry and
Literature Center at the Library
of Congress and I'm also a proud
partner in the series, representing
and celebrating literature from
across the African continent.
Let me ask you now to
turn off your cellphones
and any electronic devices
that you might have,
as it will interfere with our event.
Second, please note that this
program is being recorded
and by participating
you give us permission
for further use of the recording.
And, finally, let me tell you
a little bit about our center.
We are the home to the poet laureate
consultant in poetry and we put
on about 30 to 40 public
programs like this 1 per year.
To find out more about this
series and our other programs
at the library please visit our
website at www.loc.gov/poetry.
You can also find out more
about the library's African
and Middle Eastern Division and
view webcasts and our conversations
with African poets and writers
series at www.loc.gov/rr/amed.
And now, I would like to introduce
Bernadette Paolo, President and CEO
of the Africa Society of
National Summit on Africa.
>> Thank you.
Good afternoon ladies and gentleman.
First of all I want to thank our
partners and Chris and Matthew
for filling in for the
heads of their divisions,
Mary Jane Deeb and Robert Casper.
We've been doing this, this is our
third season and the Africa Society
of the National Summit on Africa,
our mission is to educate Americans
about the peoples, cultures,
contributions of 54 African
nations to the United States.
What better way can we do that
then really to showcase the talent
from the continent of Africa and
before we, I introduce our speaker
for today, I have to pause
for a moment to tell you
about someone who began this series.
The first speaker for this
series was Professor Ali Mazrui,
who will be buried tomorrow
in his native Kenya.
Professor Mazrui, as
many of you know,
was a living legend
and renowned scholar.
He was actually also 1 of our
board members for 14 years.
He wrote over 40 books, he's
lectured at over 54 universities
around the world and he did a famous
film called The Africans for PBS,
which was to Africa what Roots meant
in the United States
to African- Americans.
So today we acknowledge him,
we pay our deepest sympathies
to his family, and we pay tribute
to him for his contribution
to his country, to the continent,
and to the world at large.
He was noted as 1 of, by
Foreign Policy Magazine,
as 1 of the top 100
intellectuals in the world.
I'm sure, as I stand
here knowing him as I do,
that he would be very
proud of our guest today
and I'm proud to introduce her.
Veronique Tadjo was
born in Paris and grew
up in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire.
She did most of her studies
in Abidjan and then went
on to earn a doctorate degree
in African-American Literature
and Civilization from the
Sorbonne, Paris in 1983
and there she was awarded
a Fulbright Scholarship
to Howard University to
continue her research.
She returned to lecture at Abidjan
University for several years.
She has traveled extensively in
Africa, in Europe, in America
and has lived with her family
in Lagos, Nairobi, and London.
When I'm through reading your
bio you'll be shocked, as was I,
upon seeing her because she looks
much younger than I envisioned
after having all of
these experiences.
She's currently based in
Johannesburg, where she is chair
of the French Department at the
University of Witwatersrand.
She is a visiting professor at
Rutgers University this fall.
I will not begin to talk to you
about her work in French because,
as you heard, she teaches
French, and I,
I would be very self-conscious
in my pronunciation.
So, instead, I'll talk
to you about her works
that are translated in English.
Some of her novels available
in English for all of us are
As The Crow Flies, The Shadow
of Imana, Travels in The Heart
Of Rwanda, The Blind
Kingdom, and Queen Pokou.
A bilingual edition of her first
collection of poems, Red Earth,
is published by Eastern
Washington University Press.
Far From My Father is the
translation of her most recent novel
and it came out in
April of this year.
Her work has also been translated
into several other languages
including German, Swedish, Spanish,
and Italian, and features in many
anthologies and literary reviews.
She has been associated
with The Caine Prize
for African Writing since 2000.
She has been a judge and
facilitated its writing workshops.
In addition, she has
been a member of the jury
for the European Union Literary
Prize for South African Writing.
As though that were not enough she's
produced books for young people.
Some of her titles are Mami Wata and
the Monster, I would like to read
that book, Lord of the Dance, The
Lucky Grain of Corn, The Little Girl
Who Did Not Want To Grow Up,
I understand her very well.
She has edited an anthology of
poems from Africa for young people,
Talking Drums, published
by ANC Black and Bloomsbury
in the United States, Chasing The
Sun, a selection of African stories.
She has facilitated workshops
in several countries among
which are Mali, the Benin
Republic, Chad, Haiti, Mauritius,
French Guyana, Rwanda, and
[inaudible] Cote D'Ivoire.
Apart from illustrating her own
children's books she is a painter.
So you can see that
she has many talents
and before I have the pleasure of
bringing her before you I just want
to introduce you to 2 people in this
audience who are very special to us,
that's our Director of Programs,
Patricia Bane, who's from Uganda,
and Sarah [inaudible],
who's with us from Kenya.
Without our team, as people at
the Library of Congress know,
such as Eve Ferguson and others, we
wouldn't be able to do this work.
Thank you, finally, for joining us.
It's a pleasure to see you every
time we come and we look forward
to hosting you for this
series for many years to come.
And now, Veronique.
[ Applause ]
>> Hello, good, good afternoon and I
am really, really honored to be here
and especially because it's
Washington D.C. where I have very,
very, very good memories when
I was doing my research here.
But it's a real honor to be in the
Library of Congress and to see some
of my friends from my
time in D.C. at Howard.
I will read a little
excerpt from, from far away,
it's Far From My Father, we, we
got to read [inaudible] so it's Far
From My Father and it's a book
about loss and exile as the, Nina,
the main character, comes back
to Ivory Coast, Cote D'Ivoire,
after the death of her father.
So, the timeframe is that,
the time of the funerals,
the time it took for the funerals.
So I start with the beginning
then I'll jump a little bit
and then continue.
Impossible to sleep,
Nina had thought
that sunset would bring her a bit
of piece, yet after sending streaks
of purple and gold across the sky,
the orb had begun to melt away,
sinking below the horizon.
Now, it was over.
Nothing remained but
darkness, dense and troubling.
She turned away from the dark
hole, pulled down the window shade,
reclined her seat and
tried to sleep.
The plane's wings cut
through the night.
Anguish rose brittlely in her.
In just a few hours she
would be there, at the house,
but without him, without
his presence.
What was left?
Walls, objects, what else?
She would need to reconsider
everything she had taken
for granted.
What makes a country home she had
asked Frederic the evening before
she left.
I don't know, he admitted,
looking a little bit confused,
memories I guess?
Yes, memories.
The feel of the sky, the taste of
the water, the color of the Earth,
faces, moments of love and
loss, a home was all of that.
A rainbow of sensations stored
up as the days passed by.
But can one rely on memories?
The country was no longer the same.
War had left it scarred,
disfigured, wounded.
To live there now would mean
forsaking those outdated memories,
ideas from another time.
She had been gone far too long.
How could they not
hold it against her?
She had thought that
she could travel freely,
roaming wherever she chose
until it was time to return.
Come home then everything would
be just as it had always been,
each thing in its place and she'd
have to do so, all she'd have
to do was drop her bags and pick
up her life right where
she had left it.
She'd be welcomed with open arms,
all the richer for her travels.
But that was before the
war, before the rebellion.
Everything had turned upside
down, had crumbled away.
The full force of her exile hit her
like a whip and sent her reeling.
Voices began to shout in her head,
just who do you think you are?
You are nothing.
Your house was destroyed, your
parents are dead and gone,
no one wants you here, get out!
Nina woke up with a start.
She must have dozed off.
Her heart was pounding.
Where was she?
Her feet were swollen,
her body ached.
I have to get up, stretch
my legs, she thought.
She got out of her seat.
She was careful not to bump
into the sleeping passengers;
some were curled into balls, their
mouth open or their nose buried
in the neighbor's shoulder.
Others were, others with arms
sticking out from under blankets
like the stiffened limbs
of badly wrapped corpses.
She wobbled as she walked,
her eyes fixed on the light
at the end of the passageway.
A flight attendant was
organizing trays of food.
She tried a few stretching
exercises in the back of the cabin
but was unable to overcome the
stiffness that had invaded her.
She felt like the flight
would never end.
It wasn't only her body that was
abandoning her but her spirit
as well, a black sea
as thick as the night.
She felt herself beginning to sink.
Have I really lost my home?
And what if this was
really her fault,
if she had deliberately set
herself apart from the others?
Now she was going to
find herself face to face
with everyone she had
left behind years before.
How would they see her?
Then I just jump a bit.
She's facing the immigration
officer.
The sun had just reappeared
when the plane landed.
The heavy door opened and
despite the early morning hour the
passengers were suddenly engulfed
in a wave of heat that rushed
into the cabin, the
country's burning breath.
Once she waited in
the immigration line,
Nina wondered who would
be there to greet her.
In the plane she had been
careful to avoid catching the eyes
of the other passengers for fear
of being recognized by someone,
which was not unlikely on
the flight to Cote D'Ivoire.
How are you?
So what are you up these days?
Where do you live?
And your dad, is he well?
Anything not to have to
pronounce the words that told
of his death, not now, not yet.
From behind the window the officer
questioned her in a detached voice.
How many days will you stay?
Nina hesitated, I'm from
here, does it matter how long?
I asked you a question.
I, I'm not sure, about a month.
Suddenly the man's face lit up.
Are you the daughter of
Dr. [inaudible], he asked,
holding the passport open
in front of his, of him.
Yes, Nina replied, apprehensively,
she wasn't quite sure
where he was heading
with all his questions.
Oh, I know your father well,
you're from the same place,
we're from the same place.
You'll have to say hello to him for
me, I'm Corporal Gessa [phonetic].
He stamped her passport and
handed it back with a wide smile,
one meant to suggest complicity.
Then, added quickly, welcome home.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Thank you Veronique.
My name is Marieta
Harper the area specialist
in the African Middle Eastern
Division and we're going
to continue our conversation at the
podium where Veronique will respond
to questions that I have for her.
Good afternoon again, I
have the distinct pleasure
to continue this conversation
with Veronique Tadjo,
based on her readings from her most
recent novel, Far From My Father.
I'd like to know if,
where your inspiration
for this most recent novel that
was published originally in French
in 2010, and I wondered if it
provided 1 of my sub questions
to that is did it provide
information
on culture clashes,
western practices.
>> Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much.
The inspiration for this book
came from different places
in the sense that, you know, I've
always traveled a lot, and, and,
and like in the book I thought
that traveling was not a problem,
you travel, you come back and
everybody's happy and, and,
I guess especially if your
parents are still there but,
you go back to your family
house and your friends and,
but it's a total illusion
because things move, things change
and the country also changes.
And that's okay but I think I, I,
I've always thought that I wasn't
in exile because I was
always able to come back to,
but then when the war happened,
which I talk about in the,
in the book, in fact
it's not the recent one,
it's not the post-electoral crisis
that we have gone through in 2011,
that, that created a civil war,
the equivalent of a civil war,
it's the 1 before, which is called,
referred to as The Rebellion.
But when I learned about
that I was outside, I mean,
you could feel it in the air.
You knew it was coming but
then I had a feeling of exile
and I think that's, you have a
feeling of exile when you know
that the left you, the place you
have left has [inaudible] changed.
I mean, it's finished, it's
changed, it's not something
that you will ever find
again and that, that,
that also pushed me
to write the book.
>> The, I know that you have
written more than just novels
as your introduction stated and
that you also have written poetry
and really received your collection
of poems won a literary
prize back in 1984.
What was the theme
with that collection
and that brought you
to that much attention?
>> All right, as you may have
guessed I'm very attached
to Cote D'Ivoire and, and,
in fact, that collection,
that first collection of poems
came out of my stay in the north
of Ivory Coast in, in, in
what you would say the same
for country is that,
it's very, very, very,
the north is very different
from the south of Ivory Coast.
The south is like, first there's
the biggest city, which is Abidjan,
which is the economic capital but on
top of it is the forest, is green.
Whereas when you go
up, it's the savanna.
So you're talking about
a very different country.
And I, I went there to teach in a
secondary school, to teach English
as a matter of fact in the
secondary school, and I stayed there
for 2 years and I simply
fell in love with the area.
I just, I couldn't believe the
diversity of Cote D'Ivoire and,
and I just simply fell in love
and so the, the collection
of poems comes from that period that
I stayed, when I stayed up north.
>> Oh, that's great.
>> Mmhmm. And the title
is Laterite, which is,
which was translated as
Red Earth in English.
>> Mmhmm. You've, you have
been involved with your,
your writing in many forms-
>> Mmhmm.
>> and with that I want to know
what your connections have been
with African writers, other
African writers [inaudible]
and in North America.
>> Mmhmm, I kind of function in,
in 2 spheres, the anglophone square
and the francophone square
and I think that's probably the best
thing I ever did was to take English
at the University of Abidjan-
>> Mmhmm.
>> because first I, I, that gave me
access to black American literature
and that was a big, big source of
inspiration for my work and then
when I did my research also
at Howard University it was
on the black church
and black theology.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And that has also influenced me
very much in terms of my vision of,
of religion and, and the role that
it could have in, in a, in society,
especially in a, in a,
like a third world country
in a situation of [inaudible].
So that was very important
and then because I have access
to anglophone writers I just read.
>> Mmhmm.
>> I read them so I think
I have a good knowledge of,
of anglophone Africa, the
literature from, from there.
So I'm interested in,
in, in bridging the gap.
>> Yeah.
>> In communicating,
creating some sort
of a communication
between the 2 spheres.
>> Mmhmm. Okay.
How do, how do you see yourself
among different literary traditions
that are from African
writers as well as -
>> Mmhmm.
>> writers in a diaspora, there are,
have been some interest in whether
or not African writers are
interpreting their oral traditions-
>> Mmhmm.
>> or they're writing
in there own language,
whether or not some of that-
>> Mmhmm.
>> has influenced you.
>> Yes, yes.
>> And in what way.
>> Yeah, definitely,
definitely I've been, I,
I like oral literature
very much, oral poetry.
>> Mmhmm.
>> For example if you take Yoruba
poetry, for, for example, it's,
it's fantastic and all the mythology
and all that, I take a lot from it.
Same thing on the francophone side,
let's say the francophone sphere, I,
I have been very, very drawn
to oral tradition and the,
the book I wrote, Queen Pokou--
>> Mmhmm.
>> is almost entirely based
on that kind of oral tradition
and history and, and culture.
So it's very important for,
for me and, and, and also I'm,
I've been inspired
by our predecessors
in the Negritude movement-
>> Mmhmm.
>> is still something
that resonates in me.
I mean, it's, we're, we're
living in different days.
We're not talking about
independence any more,
the fight for independence.
We've had our independence whether
that was successful I don't think
so, so we still have a lot of work
to do and what I'm interested in the
Negritude movement is this, this,
they have, they were
able to, to be committed
but at the same time to
have a lyrical voice.
>> Mmm.
>> And that's what
interests me, that,
that's, the junction of these 2-
>> Mmhmm.
>> 2 dimensions and I think that
we can still learn a lot from,
from them and I see myself
in that, in that tradition,
going forward of course and with
new challenges, different challenges
but I think we can still
take a lot from, from them
and learn a lot from them.
And also, it's part
of our tradition.
I mean, we, we come in with baggage,
yeah, we also have a baggage
if you go from oral tradition to
all these people who've been working
at changing the face of Africa then
that's, that's the rich tradition
and I think we have
to acknowledge that.
>> Uh huh.
Thank you.
I'm going to just ask
1 brief question.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And then I'm going to
give mics to the audience
as they may have some
additional questions they would
like to ask you.
>> Mmhmm.
>> What literary project
are you working on now?
Because I know that you are teaching
at the University of [inaudible].
>> Yeah, Witwatersrand.
>> Witwatersrand.
>> Yeah and that's a difficult
1 so we say Wits University.
>> In South Africa.
>> For sure, yes.
>> So and you're just
visiting with us in the states
at Rutgers University at
the moment and so I'm just,
want to find out if there's
any project in mind with your,
that you may have in mind
that you can share with us.
>> Yes, well first I must say
I'm enjoying myself very much
in New Jersey, and even in New
Brunswick, which is a very, very,
very tiny place but
it's a university town
and I'm just enjoying the
seminar that I'm teaching.
I've got a wonderful group of
students and so that, that,
that's very, that, I'm
taking a lot from it.
And otherwise, I'm in
Joburg and, as you know,
Johannesburg is a big
city, it's, it's the-
>> Yeah.
>> it's the, it's the
pulse of, of South Africa.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And it's a very interesting place
because it's moving all the time.
There's always something happening
and yes, I, sometimes I say that in,
in, in Joburg everything is
multiplied by, by 10 in terms
of African issues and
its also recent history
because Mandela died recently, in
2013, but you still have big people
like Nelson Mandela, or,
Desmond Tutu, Winnie Mandela and,
and it's like you,
you're watching history.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And it's also a country
in, in transformation.
So you're watching that and
I find it very interesting.
Of course, there are
a lot of challenges
and a lot of difficulties.
It's sometimes frustrating to be
there because of the pace of change,
which is not going fast
enough but it's worth it.
>> Yeah.
>> And my project, I've just
finished a book on, I mean,
based on South Africa
and I'm thinking
about another 1, another
book in mind.
>> Oh, well, thank you for
letting us know about what you,
what we can plan to read
of your, in the future.
I'll open it up to our audience.
[ Silence ]
>> Two short questions.
I wanted you to go back to
the negritude reference-
>> Mmhmm.
>> and maybe be a little
more specific.
Are you more influenced by
[inaudible] there or [inaudible]
and the other question
is you are also a painter
and I was wondering how
sometimes your ideas that might be
on a [inaudible] or sketch
translate into literary form.
>> Mmhmm, mmm, thanks.
I'm interested, I, I must say
on a personal level the
poetry of [inaudible] a lot.
But this, I, I think
the different things
in the negritude movement
[inaudible] was much more punchier,
had a more radical view of the, the,
the negritude so I'm also drawn to,
to, to, his type of writing but Leon
Gontran Damas, also I like his humor
because he was able to, to, to
articulate the feelings of the times
but we, that's little edge, which,
which makes it very,
very, very effective.
Otherwise, we have [inaudible].
You have a lot of people.
I think they were doing things
differently but, but when you look
at them they, that's a
whole corpus of work.
So yes, I've been influenced
greatly.
In terms of the painting I, I, I
very often call it my secret garden
because when I paint I
kind of cleanse my mind.
>> Mmhmm.
>> It cleanses my mind and I think
it helps me to be a better writer.
It's, it's a different
part of the brain and I, I-
>> Mmm.
>> I think it's like speaking a
different language, basically,
you're speaking, you're
using another mode.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And, and, and you're
talking about signs, again,
you're using signs, you're
using color and yeah,
I see it as another, another idiom.
>> Mmhmm.
>> Can I just call out something?
>> Yeah.
>> In some of your early
work I know [inaudible].
>> You see you're talking about
writing in kind of surrealistic way.
Do you know, if you're inspired
by oral tradition you have it.
Don't go any further.
I mean, there is some modernity
in African art and oral literature
that is absolutely amazing.
Just go to Yoruba, as I said,
because this is what is in my mind,
but just go to Yoruba poetry.
Oh, they jump from 1 thing to the
other and association of images and-
>> Mmhmm.
>> it is amazing and, and that's
where I find the modernity.
And you, even if you take African
art, sculpture, masks, wow.
I mean, because they were not
looking at the figurative way.
So, by the way, may I
just recall that Picasso,
1 of the greatest artists of all
times, was deeply, deeply inspired
by what was called at the time
primitive art and African art.
It changed his way of
looking at painting completely
and in Johannesburg about a couple
of years ago we had this
beautiful exhibition
and the title was Picasso
and Africa.
And so we had works of Picasso
and the pieces that inspired him.
And there were pieces
from all over Africa.
So, that's what I'm saying, you
know, it's all in your eyes.
>> Mmhmm.
>> There is an amazing modernity
in oral tradition and, and,
and that's, that's for me is key.
>> Mmhmm.
[ Silence ]
>> Thank you.
Yes, thank you.
I have a question.
You mentioned several
times the interconnection
and the flow from the oral-
>> Mmhmm.
>> you can say the African to the
formal francophone literature,
do you see from that formal,
you know, written [inaudible],
that formal, in some ways
European presentation,
flow back into the, the oral?
Is it a 2-way or is
it simply a 1-way?
>> You may want to
repeat his question.
>> Hmm?
>> You may want to repeat his
question so they'll hear it.
>> Oh, yes, yes.
Whether oral tradition is a 2-way
in the sense that, you mean,
that it influences writers,
contemporary writers?
>> The, the contemporary formal
literature influences the
oral [inaudible].
>> Ah, okay.
I don't know, I don't know.
All I know is [inaudible]
you have something
like [inaudible] literature,
which is very urban in,
in terms of the themes but obviously
coming from oral tradition.
In, in, in the, in the content
and the vision of the world,
you also have a, a classic today,
My Life In The [inaudible],
which was a, which was
also a very important book,
also drawn from oral tradition.
So I think oral traditions
are alive.
They, they, they have the
capacity to, to adapt and, and,
and become in some way urban.
I will take 1 myth, which, that I
like very much, which is the myth
of Mami Wata, which is the, if
you want to be a bit simplistic,
the African mermaid, but I
think she's much more than that.
But she, she, she has been able
to adapt, her figure has adapted
and she's now urban, you
see, she's now in cities,
in the sense that people have seen
in their imagination this idea
that Mami Wata is a character that
lives in urban centers like Lagos.
>> Okay.
>> You know, they will
tell you to be careful
if at night you meet
this beautiful woman who,
she could be a Mami
Wata, so be ware.
What I mean is that, it's,
it's moving into life.
It's, so it's a 2-way,
yeah, you could say that.
[ Silence ]
>> Thank you very much.
>> Mmhmm.
>> Many African authors who
are here talk about the fact
that though they are
from African countries
and there is this classification
of African literature now-
>> Mmhmm.
>> that they know that they will
have made it when African literature
and African writers and poets
become part of world literature.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And sense you've translated
your works in some many countries,
this characterization that
persists, is it like that for you,
in Paris for example, how
is your work classified?
Where would I be able
to go in a library
in France and find your work?
>> Yeah, it's, it's
a burning question.
It's, it's a question that
at times has divided us.
I'm happy with the
African literature title,
that means I consider
myself as an African writer.
This being said, I would like
everybody to read my books, I mean,
crossing borders, but I, I just
remember what [inaudible] said
at some point, he said it's
about rootedness and openness.
That means you're rooted in a
culture, you come from somewhere
but then you open to the world
and I think that's how I see it
because if you come with other
baggage you very soon are going
to dangle, you know, in the air
and, and lose all your references.
So I think if you come
with something then
you can bring something
and you can receive something
and you can, we can really work
with the others and then I think
it's, that's why I said we,
we still have to revisit what
they said, leave some, take some
but that 1 I think is something
[inaudible], which stands.
Yes.
[ Silence ]
>> You might have to [inaudible]
paraphrase the question.
>> I'm very much interested
in your new book,
which is situated in South Africa.
I'm interested in seeing,
hearing, reading how you
as a Cote D'Ivoirean see
South African society.
I'm curious about your background-
>> Mmhmm.
>> with African-American studies-
>> Mmhmm.
>> and what you may
have taken from that-
>> Mmhmm.
>> and used in your writings.
I'm wondering if you have done work,
which is situated here in the U.S.
but situated in an African-American
community or if in any
of your works you have
African-American characters.
Also, China in Africa
is a big [inaudible].
Seldom though, I think, do we see
Chinese characters in literature.
I know in a few films
there, there are characters.
So in literature, in African
literature is China visible at all?
Lastly, and this is the third
question, [inaudible], which is,
I can't think of an adjective-
>> Mmhmm.
>> but in literature, I'll
hold it out a little bit, okay.
>> Mmhmm.
>> But in literature, I'm wondering
if there is anything
that's visible already?
I know that in music there
are [inaudible] songs.
Do you see anything
coming [inaudible] relating
to that [inaudible]?
So those are, that's
the end of my spiel.
>> Okay, the first question was
about African-American literature
and whether I have been
influenced by it, is that it?
Yeah, yeah, yes definitely.
Yeah, I mean reading Song of
Solomon, I mean, there's no surprise
to anybody, was really a key text
for me in terms of the language,
the themes, you know,
that was very important.
But I think I also read a lot
of the, what I call classics.
So it was very, very important
and it's funny you should say
that because the, my second
book, As The Crow Flies,
is opening with a chapter
on Washington,
set in Washington D.C.
That's how the book opens,
I find myself in Washington D.C. and
it's a book about, about traveling.
And there's another
book, The Blind Kingdom,
and in The Blind Kingdom there is a
character who is a poet, a prophet,
some sort of a preacher and that
came directly from my research
on the black church
and black theology.
I was looking at, as I said, the
role of religion in, in, in when,
when you find difficult situations.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And so James Cone writing
was very important for, for,
for my vision of, of religion.
So, yes, I, I, I worked, there's,
can find it in different,
in different books.
Now the second question was on?
>> China.
>> Yeah, on China.
Ah, China, you know, I've
never been to China so, no, no,
no I think it's important when you
know something you can talk better
about it.
I know that, you know,
this is controversial.
Some people will say no you
can write about anything even
if you haven't been there.
I mean, I don't know, in my
life I don't meet enough,
I would say Chinese people to, to
be able to, to feature them in, in,
in, in my books for example.
So, if I, if I, if it happens
I will, I will certainly do it
because I know that in terms of,
of, of the importance of China
for the rest, so the future of
Africa this is, this is big.
But I, I want to know a bit
more and at the moment I'm not
in that, in that situation.
I know some, some other
writers have done it
but I don't feel equipped
at the moment.
Now, concerning Ebola, I was
telling you earlier that I,
I have another project in mind and
that's, that's I want really reflect
on what is happening because it's,
it's a, it's a, it's an earthquake.
It's an earthquake and it's, it, it,
it concerns the whole of humanity
and we have to address it.
>> Okay, I think we have time
for at least 2 more questions.
[ Silence ]
>> [inaudible] a very
different kind of question,
you've been teaching in, at Wits,
I remember when I first went
to the English Department
of Wits in about 1994,
they were barely teaching
African literatures.
>> Mmhmm.
>> It was all just beginning
to enter the curriculum.
What does the curriculum look like
today and what are the students
at Wits interested in
writing about today?
>> Mmhmm. Okay, that's a, I was
going to say that's a tough one
because Wits University is a big
university, yeah, it's very big,
lots of departments, English
Department, Modern Languages,
and you, today you have an
African Literature Department
so it's a department just
for African literature.
And, and, and it's doing well.
They have a lot of students, uh huh,
and they're doing South African
literature, African literature
from West Africa and also a
bit of francophone literature
but in translation and I'd like to
push it written more but that's,
it's a, it's not doing
badly as a department.
It's, it is doing,
I would say, well.
And there's the English Department
where you can also take something
like South African literature, or
anything in translation, not much
but they, they also do a bit.
Could be more, definitely
could be more.
I think that the students are
very interested in the, in the,
in the job market, I think
like everywhere else.
You know, they worry about how
they're going to get a job.
So, the like business
school is doing well.
Voila. You have to, and sometimes
they do a minor and a major
and so they, they mix and match,
you know, that sort of thing.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And the university itself
is changing, you know, the,
the population of students
is, is becoming more,
there is more black students.
It's, it's, yeah, as I said,
everywhere is in transformation.
>> In terms of what the students
are addressing when they write?
>> Oh you know how it is
at university, you know,
you get an essay, you
have an essay assignment
so it's more the lecturers that
should, you should talk about,
you know, what, what
they, what they ask the-
>> Students.
>> the students to
write about, you know?
It depends on the books
that are on the curriculum.
>> But the creative writing?
>> Oh, creative writing.
Yes, there is a very good department
of creative writing, very good,
yeah, very, very good,
very, very dynamic.
And [inaudible] all sorts of,
all sorts of themes really.
They're looking at history a lot.
They're looking at
urban South Africa.
They're looking at new genres as
well like the detective story,
science fiction, yes, they,
they're really prodding,
prodding contemporary South Africa.
For a while, when, when, when it
was the end of apartheid, you know,
they were like, okay, what next?
What do you have to say, you know?
But now it's coming back and into
dynamism and, and it's more looking
at contemporary society and
also a bit of disenchantment,
a bit of disillusion and so you have
those types of books coming out.
>> Mmhmm.
>> And our last question.
>> [inaudible] increased
attention on this [inaudible]
to African writers, particularly
African women writers,
and I'd like to hear
your comments on that
and also what contemporary
writers are you influenced by
and what is the exchange
of ideas [inaudible]?
>> Okay, yeah, thanks.
Yeah, it's, it's some
kind of a phenomenon.
You have a lot of women writers who
are in prominence and I think it's,
you can understand it is become
women came a bit later in terms
of in the education system so you
needed that generation to come
out of, out of, yeah, out of
the education system, access to,
to more possibilities, and then
traveling as well, moving around
and so yes, it's very, I find it
very interesting, very interesting,
very interesting and I think
that it's going to go on, yeah,
I think it's, well on a, on a, on a
path and, and this is, this is like,
has become a phenomenon but it's
because women writers came later
so today, because they're coming
in great number you feel like, ah,
how come they're in the forefront?
But it's just because they
kind of just arrived, like,
if you take the francophone
world, you date it from 1980s.
>> Mmm.
>> The 1980s-
>> Yes.
>> when you really-
>> That's right.
>> can see a new movement.
So it's fairly, fairly recent.
Uh huh, the second part was?
[Inaudible] Oh, the writers
that have influenced me.
I think they come from
all sorts of places.
They, they, they come from, from the
continent, on the anglophone side,
on the francophone side but I,
might be influenced by a writer
from France, a writer from, from,
from the states, it's
like it's diverse.
I cannot say there's only 1 writer
that has influenced me to, I'm very,
I'm very open to what
is happening in,
in different parts
of the world, uh huh.
[inaudible]
>> Oh, the exchange
between us, African writers.
I mean, for me it's,
it's a big family.
I feel like, I really feel like
we usually know each other.
We know of each other, we, we
read the each other's books.
No, no, I see myself as
a, it's my second family.
>> Yes.
>> Definitely.
>> All right.
Thank you Veronique Tadjo,
[applause] let's give her a round
of applause for her conversation
with us today and for the reason I,
we also have her book Far From
My Father, in the back for you
to get a copy and also to have
her to sign for you her copy.
And thank you again
for coming today.
>> Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.