Cameroon-born Writer Wins Goncourt Students Prize
Book Reviews
Asharq Alawsat
Cameroon-born Djaïli Amadou Amal has won the prestigious Goncourt students prize for her novel Les Impatientes (The Impatient Ones) revolving around personal experience, forced marriages, and polygyny. In a virtual press conference, Clémence Nominé, 16, president of the Prix Goncourt jury formed of high school students, noted that "the writing of Amadou is simple and touching without superfluous lyricism. It is a subtle book that allows us to observe the issue of forced marriage through the prism of this moving testimony." The writer, described as a literary star in her country, acquired 10 of 12 votes, overtaking Lola Lafon and Miguel Bonnefoy. Known as "the voice of those not usually heard" in the Cameroonian media, Amadou Amal said the prize "means a lot to her," noting that "we talk about violence against women so the young generation shows sensitivity to this matter. If we speak about early marriages and physical and moral violence, this means there is hope for the future." "The scenes depicted by the writer in her novel are so touching and sometimes violent that they force the reader to imagine himself in the shoes of the victims," Nominé told AFP. "This book prompts people to fight. I hope this prize would influence the whole world," she added. Djaili Amadou Amal was born in Cameroon to an Egyptian mother and a Cameroonian father. She was 17 years old when she married a man in his fifties, but she managed to divorce him five years later. Then, after ten years, she got married and abused again, so she ran away, but her husband kidnapped her two daughters to force her to return. Amadou finished her studies in business management and established a woman association that focuses on girls' education in the Sahel, in 2012.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2665671/cameroon-born-writer-wins-goncourt-students-prize
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