Walang Abang is a Cameroonian writer born in Douala in January 1975. He is the son of Cameroonian boxer Abang Antoine, who represented Cameroon in the 1968 Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA.
He grew up in Buea with his grandparents, in a tradition of storytelling, where after returning from the farm with his grandparents, the children would be gathered around the fireside, roasting corn and listening to some of the most enticing folktales from his grandmother and neighbors. Walang Abang attended primary and secondary schools in Buea, Ngaoundere and Bafoussam. He went on to read Sociology in the University of Buea where he participated actively and served as co-coordinator of the then University of Buea Theatre Troupe.
He worked as a marketer and editor of Cambridge University Press in Cameroon. Walang Abang is the author of eleven volumes of African soccer books entitled “African Soccer Stars and Legends” published by Cambridge University Press in 2009 and exhibited during the 2010 world soccer jamboree in South Africa.
Walang Abang wrote, published and launched his play entitled “Social Insects” in 2011. The play is an allegorical work that uses the apartheid system of South Africa to display the prevailing global inequality.
Walang Abang has written several plays for kids. Seven of the plays for kids were written on his Samsung Galaxy S2 while he was travelling around the country. Many of his story books have been translated into French to impact French speaking Cameroonian kids. In 2015, his story book for kids “I am a Useful Insect” was selected by UN literacy program to encourage reading among Cameroonian kids. His children’s novel, “The Tale of Asakwakwa” features in this year’s Read@home program in the English and French versions.
The author has published several short stories, plays and children’s story books on Amazon kindle. He is also a storyteller who recounts African folktales to kids. His storytelling experience while growing with his grandmother inspired his writing of a collection of folktales entitled “Funny Tales from my Grandmother’s Kitchen.” (Unpublished).
WORKS
Eleven volumes of African Soccer Stars and Legends (Cambridge University Press 2009). Social Insects (Play) 2011 Amazon kindle. I am a Useful Insect (Play for children) 2012 Je Suis un Insecte Utile (French Version) The Stubborn Bees and the Butterfly (Play for children reviewed and republished as Alpha Bees) 2014 Les Villaines Abeilles et le Papillon (French Version) I am the King Cock (Play for children) 2014 Je Suis le Roi Coqs (French Version) A Word to a Wise Fish (Play for children) 2014 Conseil à un Poisson Sage (French Version) Another Side of Friendship (Play for kids) 2014 La Face Cachée de L’Amitie (French Version) Inspector Cat and Mr. Rat (Play for kids) 2014 Inspecteur Chat et M. Souris (French Version) The Little Magician (Play for kids) 2014 Le Petit Magicien (French Version) Can We be Friends Again (Play for kids) Des Amis à Nouveau (French Version) The Stubborn Neighbour (Play) 2015 Le Voisin Têtu (French Version) It Cannot Go (Play) 2016 Amazon kindle. When the Car is Walking (Play) 2016 Amazon kindle. Life Without these Hollywood Bees (Novel) 2016 Amazon kindle. A Story from Within (Short Story) 2018 Amazon kindle. Atonement in my Village (Short Story) 2018 Amazon kindle. The Queen Loves Another (Short Story) 2018 Amazon kindle. The Sculptor (Short Story) 2018 Amazon kindle. The Tale of Asakwakwa (Novel for children)
References
University of Buea - Department of Performing and Visual Arts. Cambridge University Press. Amazon.com/Kindle.