Abdourahman Waberi
Abdourahman Waberi
Associate Professor of French
Contact:
Email:
Abdourahman Waberi
Office Phone:
(202) 994-6975
An acclaimed author, Abdourahman Waberi has published several books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. He has received many awards and fellowships throughout his career. His work, originally published in French, has been translated in many languages, including English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
Teaching and research interests:
- Francophone literature and film
- 20th and 21st French literature and film
- Creative Writing
- English Pen Translation Award, London, 2021
- Prix Théophraste Renaudot Finalist, Paris, 2019
- Samuel Fischer Gastprofessur für Literatur, Freie Universität, Berlin, 2016
- Des Mots Pour Changer/Words To Change Prize, Metropolis Bleu, Montreal, 2016
- Prix littéraire Louis-Guilloux, France, 2015
- William F. Podlich Distinguished Fellow, Claremont McKenna College, CA, USA, 2010
- Académie de France – Villa Medicis Fellow, Rome, Italy, 2010
- Donald and Susan Newhouse Humanities Fellow au Wellesley College, 2008
- DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm Award – Literature, Germany, 2006.
- Stefan-George-Preis — Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf (Germany), 2006.
- Best French Writing : 21st Century. French Voices 2006.
- Prix littéraire de la Ville de Caen, jury lycéen, 2004.
- Finalist, Caine Prize, Oxford, Royaume-Uni, 2000.
- Prix biennal « Mandat pour la liberté » du PEN Club français, Prix collectif du Festival du Premier roman de Chambéry, 1997.
- Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire, 1996.
- Grand Prix de la nouvelle francophone de l'Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique (Fondation Henri Cornélus) et prix Albert Bernard de l'Académie des sciences d'outre-mer à Paris, 1994
Books:
- Dis-moi pour qui j’existe (novel), Paris : Lattès, 2022
- Quand on n’a que la terre (poetry), Paris : EditionsPoints, 2022
- Dictionnaire enjoué des cultures africaines (with Alain Mabanckou, non fiction), Paris : Fayard, 2019
- Pourquoi tu danses quand tu marches (novel), Paris : Lattès, 2019.
- Mon nom est aube (poetry), La Roque d’Antheron : Vents d’ailleurs, 2016
- La divine chanson (novel), Paris : Zulma, 2015
- Les Nomades, mes frères, vont boire à la Grande Ourse (poetry), Montreal : Mémoire d’Encrier, 2013 [Sarreguemines, France: Editions Pierron, 2000].
- Les Enfants de la Balle (11 African Short Stories on The Theme of Football/Soccer, editor). Paris: Lattes, 2010.
- Passage des larmes (novel). Paris : Lattès 2009.
- Aux Etats-Unis d'Afrique (novel). Paris: Lattès, 2006.
- Transit (novel), Paris: Gallimard, 2003.
- Rift, routes, rails (short stories), Paris: Gallimard.
- Moisson de crânes: textes pour le Rwanda. Paris: Le Serpent à plumes, 2000.
- Balbala (novel), Paris, Le Serpent à plumes, 1997. Folio, Gallimard, 2002.
- Cahier nomade (short stories), Paris, Le Serpent à plumes. 1996.
- Le Pays sans ombre (short stories), Paris: Le Serpent à plumes, 1994.
Books translated into English:
- Why Do You Dance When You Walk, translated by David & Nicole Ball, London/Abuja: Cassava Republic Press, 2022 (forthcoming)
- Naming the Dawn, translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson, Seagull Books India, The University of Chicago Press, 2018.
- The Nomades, My Brothers, Go Out to Drink from the Big Dipper, translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson, Seagull Books India, The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
- Passage of Tears, translated by David & Nicole Ball, Seagull Books India, The University of Chicago Press, 2012.
- Transit, translated by David & Nicole Ball, Indiana University Press, Global African Voices Series, 2012.
- In The United States of Africa, translated by David & Nicole Ball, The University Press of Nebraska, preface by Percival Everett, 2009.
- The Land Without Shadows, CARAF Books, University Press of Virginia, translated by Jeanne Garane, foreword by Nuruddin Farah, 2005.
Film project:
- Sankara, written with filmmaker Hicham Ayouch, to be developed.
Academic Essays:
- Les enfants de la postcolonie » précédé d’une note liminaire, Penser et écrire l’Afrique aujourd’hui (Alain Mabanckou, dir), Le Seuil, Paris, 2017
- ‘La première couche d’encre’, Présence Francophone, volume 85, College of The Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, 2016.
- “Fragments of an African Discourse: Elements for a New Literary Ecosystem.” In Francophone sub-Saharan African Literature in Global Contexts, edited by Alain Mabanckou and Dominic Thomas. Yale French Studies, 2011.
- “Des immigrés aux artistes africains parisiens: une migration sémantique récente” in Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines, sous la direction de Jean-Loup Amselle, EHESS, Paris, 2010 (198).
- “Organic Metaphor in Two Novels by Nuruddin Farah,” World Literature Today, vol 72, 4 (Autumn 1998), pp. 775-780.
- ‘’Les Enfants de la postcolonie : esquisse d’une nouvelle génération d’écrivains francophones d’Afrique noire,” Notre Librairie, n°135, Sept-déc.1998, pp. 8-15.