BIBLIOTOPIA 2021 | Interview with Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse (EN translation)

Literature in the Shadow of History

Beata Umbyeyi Mairesse, a novelist and a poet, was born in Butare in Rwanda in 1979. She arrived in France in 1994 having survived the Tutsi genocide, studied political science, and began working for humanitarian causes. Her collections of short stories « Ejo » and « Lézardes » (La Cheminante, 2015 and 2017) were awarded the Prix François Augiéras, the Prix de l’Estuaire and the Prix du livre Ailleurs. She also published a collection of poetry in prose. « Tous tes enfants dispersés » (Autrement, 2019) is her first novel and explores the history of several generations of one family after and before the Rwandan genocide. It won the Prix Ethiophile, the Prix Des racines et des mots, and the Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie.

La Fondation Jan Michalski, le 6 juin 2021