Léonora Miano facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Léonora Miano |
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Miano in 2010
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| Born | 12 March 1973  (age 51)Douala |
| Language | French language |
| Notable awards | Prix Goncourt des Lycéens, Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres |
| Website | |
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Léonora Miano is a talented author from Cameroon. She was born in Douala in 1973. Her books are written in French and have won many important awards.
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About Léonora Miano's Life
Léonora Miano was born in Douala, Cameroon. In 1991, she moved to France. There, she studied American Literature.
Her first novel, Dark Heart of the Night, came out in 2005. It was very popular with French critics. This book won many awards, including the Louis Guilloux prize. Lire magazine even called it the best first French novel of 2005.
Her second novel, Contours du jour qui vient, won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. This special award is chosen by a jury of high school students aged 15 to 18.
In 2008, Léonora Miano published five short novels. They were grouped together under the title Afropean et autres nouvelles.
Her Unique Writing Style
Léonora Miano's writing is known for creating "Afropean" literature. This means it explores the identity of people with African and European backgrounds. She believes this mix of cultures can bring new life to French literature.
Her writing style is sometimes called "jazzy." It uses rhythms and improvisations, much like jazz music. This makes her stories feel lively and unique.
Stories About History and Identity
In 2013, Léonora Miano won the Prix Femina for her book La Saison de l'Ombre. This novel tells the story of the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade. It explores deep emotions and can be seen as a story about how people are sometimes treated as products in the modern world.
In 2015, she led a project called Volcaniques: une anthologie du plaisir. For this book, twelve black women authors wrote short stories about pleasure. Léonora Miano was one of them.
In 2018, a Japanese director named Satoshi Miyagi created a play based on Miano's book Révélation. This play was the first part of a series about the history of slavery. Miano chose a Japanese director because she wanted to avoid "cultural appropriation" by Western artists. The play showed the familiar story of slavery in a new and surprising way.
Léonora Miano's work has been praised by many. The writer Zukiswa Wanner called Miano's work "brilliant."
Awards and Recognition
Léonora Miano has received many awards for her powerful writing:
- 2006: Prix Goncourt des Lycéens
- 2006: Prix Louis-Guilloux
- 2006: Montalembert Prize
- 2006: Bernard Palissy Prize
- 2006: René Fallet Prize
- 2011: Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire
- 2012: Prix Seligmann
- 2013: Grand prix du roman métis
- 2013: Prix Fémina
Books by Léonora Miano
Here are some of the books written by Léonora Miano:
- L'Intérieur de la nuit, Plon, 2005
- Dark Heart of the Night (translated by Tamsin Black), University of Nebraska Press, 2010
- Contours du jour qui vient, Plon, 2006
- Afropean Soul, Flammarion, 2008
- Tels des astres éteints, Plon, 2008
- Soulfood équatoriale, Robert Laffont, 2009
- Les Aubes écarlates, Plon, 2009
- Blues pour Elise, Plon, 2010
- Ces âmes chagrines, Plon, 2011
- Écrits pour la parole, L'Arche éditeur, 2012
- Habiter la frontière, L'Arche éditeur, 2012
- La Saison de l'ombre, Grasset, 2013 – Prix Femina 2013
- Season of the Shadow (translated by Gila Walker), Seagull Books, 2018
- Crépuscule du tourment, Grasset, 2016
- L’impératif transgressif , L'Arche éditeur, 2016
- Crépuscule du tourment 2 Héritage, Grasset, 2017
- Rouge impératrice Grasset, 2019
- Stardust, Grasset, 2022
See also
In Spanish: Léonora Miano para niños
