Congo-Brazzaville author Alain Mabanckou has a new book out, titled Cette Femme Qui Nous Regarde: Angela Davis, l’Amérique et Moi. (This Woman Who Watches Us: Angela Davis, America, and Me).

It was published by Robert Laffont on August 29, 2024. In the book, Mabanckou explores the deep connection he’s always felt with the American civil rights activist Angela Davis, which he traces to moments in his childhood when he would see her face printed on the cover of her autobiography, a book that was placed prominently on his family’s library in Congo. All through his life, her work on social justice continued to inspire his practice as a writer. When he eventual meets her, he was truly transformed by the experience.

Mabanckou is known for acclaimed novels like Memoirs of a Porcupine and African Psycho. He writes sharp social commentary through quirky, provocative storytelling laced with humor, satire, and magical realist elements. Cette Femme Qui Nous Regarde is certainly more intimate. It is a book about Davis’ revolutionary ideals and practices filtered through Mabanckou’s personal journey as a reader of Davis’ work and as a writer interested in literature as a revolutionary art. From what we found online, the book seems to be a cross between a memoir, a love letter, and a gloss on Davis’ ideas. Mabanckou is not new to the memoirs genre. In 2015, he published Lights of Pointe-Noire about his journey as a writer.

For English-speaking readers unfamiliar with Mabanckou, he is a leading voice in African literature. He is a professor at UCLA. His writings have been translated into many language and have won literary prizes, including the Prix Renaudot.

We don’t yet know when an English translation will be available but French readers who want to buy the book, can do so here!