Elnathan John received his Prix Les Afriques 2019 award which he won for Né un Mardi, the French translation of his novel Born On A Tuesday, in Geneva, Switzerland on June 29, 2019.
Prix Les Afriques, created by the Swiss lawyer Ngoãn Beti founded La Cene Littéraire, is awarded annually to an African or writer of African descent. This writer has written fiction highlighting a human, societal, ideological, political, cultural, economic or historical issue related to Africa or its diaspora. It has been won by Kei Miller (2018), Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (2017) and Hemley Boum (2016).
The winner for this year’s award, announced on June 21, is Elnathan John for Né un Mardi, the French translation of his novel Born On A Tuesday. Born on a Tuesday is a novel about a young boy struggling to find his place in a society that is fracturing along religious and political lines. Né un Mardi was translated into French by Celine Schwaller and published by Anne-Marie Métailié in 2018.
The novelist and satirist was on hand to receive his award of €5,400, artwork worth €3000 and the purchase of 100 copies of the winning book at a ceremony in Geneva. Also at the event was the prize benefactor Ngoãn Beti alongside the prize jury led by its president Ambroise Kom alongside writer Théo Ananissoh, writer & literature professor Boubacar Boris Diop, writer Koulsy Lamko, and medical doctor with a passion for the written word Hortense Sime.
The festive evening also included a session where Elnathan signed books.
Here are images of the ceremony courtesy of La Cene Littéraire.
