What Is Africa to Me?
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€25.99
20th century
A01=Maryse Conde
activism
activists
africa
african society
Author_Maryse Conde
autobiographical writings
autobiography
black feminism
Category=DNB
childhood
deportation
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
feminist voices
formation
forthcoming
freedom
french caribbean literature
gender
ghana
guinea
historical reflection
history
identity
independence
influence
literary work
paris
personal story
political upheaval
politics
race
senegal
subversive activity
translated works
translation
vocation
young life
Product details
- ISBN 9781803096971
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 05 Aug 2026
- Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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In this biography, literary giant Maryse Condé recounts her early adult years in Guinea, Ghana, and Sénégal, set against the backdrop of their struggles for independence. Maryse Condé is one of the best-known and most beloved French Caribbean literary voices. The author of more than twenty novels, she was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2015 and has long been recognized as a giant of Black feminist literature. While Condé has previously published an autobiography of her childhood, What Is Africa to Me? tells for the first time the story of her early adult years in Africa—years formative not only for her, but also for African colonies appealing for their own independence.
What Is Africa to Me? traces the late 1950s to 1968, chronicling Condé’s life in Sékou Touré’s Guinea to her time in Kwame N’Krumah’s Ghana, where she rubbed shoulders with Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Julius Nyerere, and Maya Angelou. Accusations of subversive activity resulted in Condé’s deportation from Ghana. Settling down in Sénégal, Condé ended her African years with close friends in Dakar, including filmmakers, activists, and Haitian exiles, before putting down more permanent roots in Paris.
Condé’s story is more than one of political upheaval, however; it is also the story of a mother raising four children as she battles steep obstacles, of a Guadeloupean seeking her identity in Africa, and of a young woman searching for her freedom and vocation as a writer. What Is Africa to Me? is a searing portrait of a literary genius—it should not be missed.
What Is Africa to Me? traces the late 1950s to 1968, chronicling Condé’s life in Sékou Touré’s Guinea to her time in Kwame N’Krumah’s Ghana, where she rubbed shoulders with Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Julius Nyerere, and Maya Angelou. Accusations of subversive activity resulted in Condé’s deportation from Ghana. Settling down in Sénégal, Condé ended her African years with close friends in Dakar, including filmmakers, activists, and Haitian exiles, before putting down more permanent roots in Paris.
Condé’s story is more than one of political upheaval, however; it is also the story of a mother raising four children as she battles steep obstacles, of a Guadeloupean seeking her identity in Africa, and of a young woman searching for her freedom and vocation as a writer. What Is Africa to Me? is a searing portrait of a literary genius—it should not be missed.
Maryse Condé is professor emeritus in the Department of French and Romance Philology at Columbia University and the author of many books. In 2015, she was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. She lives in France. Richard Philcox is Condé’s husband and translator.
