Alain Mabanckou

In his acclaimed bestseller set in Paris’s black community, AIain Mabanckou tells the tragic-comic story of a Congolese immigrant who struggles against racism, while having to overcome his own prejudices.

"A sad story, told with great humor." LE FIGARO

Alain Mabanckou was born 1966 in the Republic of Congo, and has been living in Paris since 1989. For nearly ten years he worked as a legal consultant for a major French conglomerate. During this time, he published two books of poetry and his debut novel, "Bleu Blanc Rouge," for which he won the Grand Prix littéraire d'Afrique in 1998. Other novels followed, including »African Psycho" (2003) and "Mémoires de porc-epic" (2006) for which he won one of France’s most important literary prizes – the Prix Renaudot. Alain Mabanckou lives in Paris and in Los Angeles, where he teaches French literature at the University of California.

Moderation: Manfred Loimeier
Reading of the German parts: Barnaby Metschurat (actor)

The reading takes place in the framework of the conference „Conventions and Conversions“ in cooperation with the Humboldt University in Berlin and the Institut Français.