Dakar, Dec 23 (APS) – More and more women of letters are establishing themselves in Ivory Coast, have contributed to raising the quality of Ivorian literature in recent years, support Ivorian writers including Assita Sidibé.
“In Ivory Coast, during the time of Simone Kaya [l’une des pionnières du roman féminin ivoirien] and others, there were very few female writers […] Today, there are from the youngest to the oldest. We have a successful writer who is 16 years old, up to Fatou Keita, Tanila Boni… They have enhanced the quality of Ivorian literature,” declared the author of the collection of short stories “Three lies of the night”, published in 2019.
Assita Sidibé participated, from December 20 to 22, in the third edition of the Women's Book Fair in Dakar, an event of which Ivory Coast was the guest country of honor.
In addition to the notable presence of women in this sector – the country has more than five hundred female authors, she says, the world of literature is characterized, in Côte d'Ivoire, by “an evolution in themes”, the new generation showing “more audacity” in writing, according to Assita Sidibé.
“The young women writers of our generation have much more audacity. Maybe before, the pioneers were a little hindered. I tell myself that perhaps their wings were a little clipped,” added Ms. Sidibé, according to whom the new Ivorian writers “talk about everything”.
On a personal level, Assita Sidibé assures that no subject is taboo in her eyes, as evidenced by her work “Three lies of the night”, in which she deals with homosexuality.
“It is a subject that is still taboo in Côte d'Ivoire, although Côte d'Ivoire is an emancipated country. […] I get angry at everything I see in society and I talk about everything,” she says.
Likewise, her book entitled “The epic of another idea” highlights the problem of infertility in couples, a phenomenon for which women are most often indexed, according to Assita Sidibé.
Her compatriot Emmanuelle Djé Lou, on the other hand, mainly addresses youth in her writings, like, she says, most young Ivorian writers.
“I address themes such as school processes, bad company, and the use of social networks. These are themes that young people really like and which allow them to learn from my experiences,” explains Ms. Djé Lou.
Her novel, “Merveille la virteuse” (Lire pour se construction editions), was included in the 4th grade secondary school curriculum, which allows her to have a large audience in middle and high schools in Côte d'Ivoire.
Naïna Coulibaly, another Ivorian writer who participated in the Women's Book Fair in Dakar, is mainly inspired by reality in her works.
“In my first work, +Naïma+, I wanted to address the theme of forced marriage, which is still relevant today, even if today, we have the impression that it could last longer. I would say that Ivorian women, Ivorian writers, no longer have taboos. They write about everything. Because when I look at Ivorian literature today, I see that it talks about politics,” explains Ms. Coulibaly, also executive secretary.
The third Dakar Women's Book Fair, whose theme was “Literature, exile and quest for identity”, is positioned as a meeting place between women writers from Senegal and other countries.
According to its promoter, the writer and screenwriter Amina Seck, the 2024 edition had the ambition to stimulate reflection on migration issues, which are gaining momentum due to an ever-increasing number of women and children who take makeshift boats to Europe.
The Women's Book Fair, whose godmother is Professor Fatou Sow, awarded two distinctions, including the “Ken Bugul Book Prize”, awarded to the Chadian Fatimé Raymone Habré for her novel “Symbil and the Royal Decree”, Aminata Ly Ndiaye receiving the high school students’ prize for the first female book for “Solitudes”.
FKS/BK/ASG
