The Modern Novel

Biography

Calixthe Beyala was born in Douala, Cameroon, in 1961. She was brought up by an older sister who sent her to school. When she was seventeen she went to France, where she married and passed her baccalauréat. She has lived in Malaga and Corsica but now lives in Paris with her two children. As well as writing, she has been very active politically, fighting for a greater voice of Africans as well as greater awareness of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. She has also been controversial – with her writing condemned for its overt sexuality, twice being sued for plagiarism and for her unsuccessful suit against Michel Drucker for breach of contract.

Other links

Calixthe Beyala
Calixthe Beyala
Calixthe Beyala
Calixthe Beyala: Writing in the Margins
Calixthe Beyala (her home page – in French)
Calixthe Beyala (in French)
Calixthe Beyala (in French)
Calixthe Beyala (in French)
Pourquoi Calixthe Beyala a t’elle couché Michel Drucker dans son livre? (in French)
Interview ((relating to her application to be Secretary General of the l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie – in French)
Calixthe Beyala ou le discours blasphématoire au propre (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)