Poetry
Crayons et portraits
Not translated into English
Fily Dabo Sissoko · 1953
Synopsis
A gallery of portraits, African and European, drawn in the first person from childhood memories: human types of colonial Sudan, seen through the eye of a moralist attentive to manners, and through them the bond of the writer with Malinke culture and West Africa. As the pages go on, the reflection becomes more spiritual, nourished by the lessons of teachers from various backgrounds.
Context
The volume was printed in 1953 in Mulhouse, in 79 pages, by a printer rather than a literary publisher. It contains portraits of types from Mali in the manner of the Characters of a French moralist of the Grand Siècle. It was reissued in 2002 in Ivry-sur-Seine by A3, with a preface by Marie-José Hoyet, the same year as the author's autobiographical narrative, and then as an e-book.
Who it is for
A short book, in French, of fewer than a hundred pages, made up of separate portraits that can be read on their own.
Prizes and reception
No known prize; the book went without a reissue for half a century before its 2002 reprint.