About the Author

Ivorian novelist and playwright Ahmadou Kourouma (1927-2003), sometimes referred to as ""the African Voltaire,"" was an accomplished satirist of African politics—and thus spent much of his life in exile. He was lavished with praise in France and awarded numerous awards for his work, including the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens, though Suns of Independence (Les soleils des indépendances), his first novel, was originally rejected by French publishers and published in Montreal in 1968.