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El Club de Lectura de Casa África lee "Las que aguardan", de Fatou Diome
Casa África continues with its sessions at the Reading Club, with which it hopes to continue bringing African literature closer to everyone that wants to take part.
The meetings will take place at Casa África's headquarters normally on the last Thursday in the month at 7 p.m. and will last approximately one and half hours.
The works are discussed and led by Ángeles Jurado, journalist and technician from Casa África's Media Communication Area.
This time the meeting will take place on Thursday 11th April 2013 at 7 p.m. in Casa África's Nelson Mandela Auditorium and there will be a discussion on the book Las que aguardan, by Fatou Diome and which belongs to Casa África's Literature Collection.
The book that Casa África's Reading Club is now reading is a story about everything that surrounds emigration. Arame and Bougna, mothers of Lamine and Issa, illegal immigrants that have set off for Europe, and who are no longer with us. Each of them is a devout and established sentry that looks after their own, the pillar that holds up the dwelling over the galleries excavated due to their absence.
Coumba and Daba, the young wives of both emigrants, smell their first roses: hungry for love, the future and modernity, they launch themselves without reservations, on a route to happiness which gradually becomes a vía crucis.
All women can imagine losing a child, even those who have never given birth. But, how do you describe the pain of a parent who waits for their child, if one is never sure that one will see him again? You take pity on the widows, you pamper them, you surround them with compassion. But how do you recognise a desolate widow when she has not buried anybody? The mothers and wives of illegal immigrants do not trust anybody.
Life does not wait for those that are absent: love varies, family secrets come out, small and large betrayals feed human interest articles and determine the nature of the reunions. The face that returns may not be the one that is waited for.
This work's author, Fatou Diome, is a female Senegalese writer who has always been inspired by the traditional art of narration, just as it is still practised in Africa. With her work En un lugar del Atlántico she received recognition from the public and critics.
Fatou Diome was born in 1968 on the island of Niodior, Senegal. She was raised by her grandmother and attended school there, where she learnt French and where her passion for French literature was created. She graduated in Modern Literature at the University Marc Bloch of Strasburg where she did her doctorate (Journeys, exchanges and training on the literary work and cinematography of Ousmane Sembene).
In 2001 the author published her short stories collection called La Préférence nationale. Her first novel was Le Ventre de l’Atlantique ('Some place in the Atlantic', 2003), which became a sales hit in France. It has been translated into English, Spanish and German. In 2006 she published her second novel called Kétala and in 2008 Inassouvies, nos vies.
France and Africa, and the relationship between both of them, make up the framework of her fiction works. Her style is inspired in the traditional art of narration, just as it is still practised in Africa. With her precise and authentic descriptions, a mischievous humour and a sharp tongue, but nuanced, which characterize her; she paints a disturbing portrait of the plight of African immigrants in France interspersed with nostalgic memories of her native Senegal
Those interested in taking part in Casa África's Reading Club should send an email to cultura@casafrica.es as places are limited. Once you have received confirmation to be a member of the Reading Club, you will be able to take away a copy of the work together with the guidelines for its reading.
For more information:
- Download reading guidelines
- See authors bibliography
- Read the first chapter of the work
- Buy the book
- Find out about the Literature Collection from Casa África
