The Tunisian novelist Azza Filali, winner of the Comar d’or 2024 for a novel in the French language, won the Ivoire Prize for African Literature of Francophone Expression 2024 for her novel “Malconnexions” published in 2023 by Élyzad.
Azza Filali succeeds Guadeloupean Jennifer Richard, winner of the 2023 Ivory Prize for her novel “Our kingdom is not of this world”, published by Albin Michel in 2022.
Misunderstandings is a work supported by the French Institute of Tunisia (IFT) as part of its Publication Assistance Program (PAP), indicates the Institute in a press release published Monday October 14.
The 16th Ivory Prize is worth three thousand (3,000) euros. It will be awarded to Azza Filali on Saturday, November 23, in the Ivorian capital Abidjan.
“Misunderstandings” is a 344-page opus which tells the story of “Emna, in her forties, a married Tunisian lawyer, is charged with a mission aimed at assessing the degree of civic-mindedness and autonomy of rural women in a conservative village from the island of Djerba.
The jury chaired by the novelist and playwright Werewere Liking-Gnépo, rewarded “a hymn to women, an excellent mirroring of the fragile lives of women engaged entirely in squaring the circle all over the world. The most evolved of among women think they stand out from the crowd even though they only perpetuate, in the thorn of dreams, the heavy price due to a society built without their opinion.”
The jury also awarded a special mention to Gabonese Charline Effah for “Les Femmes de Bidibidi”, published by Emmanuel Colas, in 2023.
“Misunderstandings” and “Les Femmes de Bidibidi” were among a total of five finalists with “Zakoa” by Hary Rabary, “Âmes tembée” by Marie-George Thébia and “Le Violon” by Adrien by Gary Victor.
The finalist works were selected from 76 works from sixteen countries.
Novelist and doctor, Azza Filali is the author of a dozen works: novels, short stories, essays. Misunderstandings is his sixth publication with Elyzad editions, following notably Ouatann (2011) and Les Intranquilles (2014), both of which won literary prizes in Tunisia, we can read on the publisher’s website.
