Tchicaya U Tam'si (born Gérald-Félix Tchicaya, 25 August 1931 – 22 April 1988) was a Congolese author; his pen name means "small paper that speaks for its country" in Kikongo.
Tchicaya U Tam'si | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gérald-Félix Tchicaya 25 August 1931 Mpili, French Equatorial Africa (now Republic of the Congo) |
| Died | 22 April 1988 |
| Occupation | Poet, Journalist |
| Relatives | Aleth Félix-Tchicaya |
Life
editBorn in Mpili, near Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa (now Congo) in 1931,[1] U Tam'si spent his childhood in France, where he worked as a journalist until he returned to his homeland in 1960. Back in Congo, he continued to work as a journalist; during this time he maintained contact to the politician Patrice Lumumba. In 1961, he started to work for UNESCO. He received Grand Prix at the 1966 first ever World Festival of Negro Art in Dakar.[1]
He died in 1988 in Bazancourt, Oise, near Paris.[2]
Since 1989, the Tchicaya U Tam'si Prize for African Poetry is awarded every two years in the Moroccan city of Asilah.
Style
editU Tam'si's poetry incorporates elements of surrealism; it often has vivid historic images, and comments African life and society, as well as humanity in general.
Tribute
editTchicaya U Tam'si was awarded the Grand Prix de la Mémoire of the GPLA 2014.[3]
Selected works
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "Biografski dodaci" [Biographic appendices]. Republika: Časopis za kulturu i društvena pitanja (Izbor iz novije afričke književnosti) (in Serbo-Croatian). XXXIV (12). Zagreb, SR Croatia: 1424–1427. December 1978.
- ^ "Tchicaya U Tam’si. Congolese poet", Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "Littérature : Tchicaya U'tam'si lauréat du Grand prix des associations littéraires. – adiac-congo.com : toute l'actualité du Bassin du Congo". adiac-congo.com.
External links
edit
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