Novel
Gros plan
Not translated into English
Idé Oumarou · 1977
Synopsis
A novel whose subject matter critics link to the Nigerien political scene, from the time of multiparty politics and the Rassemblement démocratique africain to the elites of independence. Neither its characters nor its action are known.
Context
The book was published in Abidjan by Les Nouvelles Éditions africaines, under a full title that adds a second phrase: ou seul le soleil ne meurt pas. Its author wrote it while he had been heading the office of the head of the military state for three years, after spending nine years at the head of the country's official information service: the material of the book, the offices and the hierarchies, came to him from his own post. No summary of the plot circulates in the accessible catalogues, and what is said of it remains general.
Who it is for
One hundred and fifty-six pages, in French. Out of print at the publisher and never reissued, the book is hard to find outside university libraries.
Prizes and reception
Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1978, awarded in Paris by the association of French-language writers, the year after its publication.