The Ivorian novelist Véronique Tadjo is winner of the 2022 Los Angeles Times Book Award in the category of fiction for her latest novel In the Company of Men.

The award, in its 42nd year, is hosted by the Los Angeles Times to recognize creative achievements across several categories. Winners for the 2022 prizes were unveiled at a live, in-person ceremony held at the USC’s Bovard Auditorium in Los Angeles, Carlifornia.

Tadjo took home the top fiction prize for In the Company of Men about the devastating Ebola Virus pandemic that ravaged parts of West Africa. It is a poignant and beautifully experimental novel. The judges hailed the book as “gripping and prescient,” and added that it was “unlike anything we’ve ever read.” (Read an excerpt here.)

A recipient of Medal of Commander of Arts and Letters from the government of France, Tadjo is the author of many works of poetry and novels including The Blind Kingdom, Queen Pokou and Mammy Water and the Monster. Her awards include a 1983 literary prize of L’Agence de Cooperation Culturelle et Technique, the 1993 UNICEF Prize, the 2005 Grand prix littéraire d’Afrique noire, and the 2016 Bernard Dadié national grand prize for literature.

Also honored at the event was the British-South African author Deborah Levy for her lifetime literary achievement. The multiple Booker Prize-nominated novelist’s work include the acclaimed books Swimming Home and Hot Milk. Her novel The Cost of Living was ranked by The Guardian as one of the 100 best books of the 21st century.

Previous winners of the LA Times Book Awards include Marlon James and Namwali Serpell.

Congratulations to Veronique Tadjo!