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Edem Awumey

エデム・アウメイ

Edem Awumey

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1975 （Lomé, Togo）
Nationality
Togo, Canada
Languages
French, English
Residence History
Lomé, Togo → France (education) → Gatineau, Quebec, Canada — resident since 2005

Career

Occupations
novelist, literary critic
Active Years
2000-

Education

University in France
Country: France
Educated in France (details not specified)

Awards

Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire
2006
Work: Port-Mélo
Organization: Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire organization
Result: won
Prix Goncourt
2009
Work: Les Pieds sales
Category: 小説部門
Organization: Académie Goncourt
Result: shortlisted nominee
Governor General's Award for French to English translation
2011
Work: Dirty Feet (English translation of Les Pieds sales)
Category: 翻訳（作品の英訳）
Organization: Governor General's Literary Awards
Result: shortlisted nominee (translator)
ReLit Award
2012
Work: Dirty Feet (English translation of Les Pieds sales)
Category: フィクション（翻訳版）
Organization: ReLit
Result: shortlisted nominee (translation)
Governor General's Award for French-language fiction
2019
Work: Mina parmi les ombres
Category: フランス語小説部門
Organization: Governor General's Literary Awards
Result: shortlisted nominee

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Port-Mélo

2005 novel

Awumey's debut novel. Set in a port town, it explores tensions between individuals and society, and themes of migration and memory.

migrationmemorysocial tensions
Translations
  • Port-Mélo

Les Pieds sales

2009 novel

A novel addressing migration, identity, and cycles of violence. The English translation is titled 'Dirty Feet'.

identityviolencemigration
Translations
  • Dirty Feet (English translation by Lazer Lederhendler)

Rose déluge

2011 novel

Published in 2011. A work that portrays inner worlds through images of personal loss and the night.

lossnightinterior landscapes

Explication de la nuit

2013 novel

Published in 2013. Through metaphors of night and darkness it reflects on history and memories of violence. The English translation, 'Descent Into Night', earned its translators a Governor General's Award.

memory of violencehistorynight
Translations
  • Descent Into Night (English translation by Phyllis Aronoff & Howard Scott)

Tierno Monénembo: le roman de l'exil

literary study / criticism

A critical study of Tierno Monénembo's work, analyzing exile and the author's fictional worlds.

exileliterary criticism

Mina parmi les ombres

2018 novel

Published in 2018. 'Mina parmi les ombres' deals with migration experiences, memory, and a past that creeps like a shadow; it was shortlisted for the 2019 Governor General's Award for French-language fiction.

migration experiencememoryshadows of the past

Bibliography

  • Port-Mélo
  • Les Pieds sales
  • Rose déluge
  • Explication de la nuit
  • Tierno Monénembo: le roman de l'exil
  • Mina parmi les ombres

Translations of Works

  • Dirty Feet (English translation of Les Pieds sales by Lazer Lederhendler)
  • Descent Into Night (English translation of Explication de la nuit by Phyllis Aronoff & Howard Scott)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
mix of realist depiction and lyrical metaphorfrequent use of nocturnal imagery and metaphor
Recurring Motifs
nightexile/migrationmemory and shadows of the pastcycles of violence

Legacy

As a Togolese-born writer based in Quebec, Awumey has offered new perspectives to Francophone literature through themes of migration, exile, memory, and violence. His work has been recognized by several major literary prizes, and translations have attracted international attention.

Trivia

  • Born in 1975 in Lomé, Togo.
  • Educated in France and resident in Gatineau, Quebec since 2005.
  • Debut novel 'Port-Mélo' won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 2006.
  • 'Les Pieds sales' was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt in 2009; its English translation 'Dirty Feet' received several translation award nominations.