Camara Laye

Camara Laye was an Malinké writer who was born in Guinea in 1928 while the country was still under French rule. Being Malinké he was traditionally supposed to work as a blacksmith or a goldsmith. Though he actually grew up with an education that was leading him down the path of becoming an engineer. In 1947 he was awarded a engineering scholarship and left for France. Though while in college he wrote his first novel L'Enfant noir (The African Child, 1954, also published under the title The Dark Child). This novel is an autobiography of his childhood, the differences that he experienced from his childhood to his life in France.

While doing research on Laye I found that the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe considered The Dark Child "too sweet" for his taste. After reading Achebe's thoughts on other books that I have read. I am very curious to know what he means by "too sweet". Also a man by the name of Thomas Lask in the New York Times saw the novel in a different light, he saw that it was a "tender re-creation of African life, mysterious in detail but haunting and desirable in spirit." Even with everyone having very different opinions, The Dark Child still happens to be Laye's most published writing. The novel even won the Prix Charles Veillon award in 1954.

After his first novel he continued to write two other novels that are earliest major works of Francophone African literature. This first being The Radiance of the King in 1954 and the second in 1966 titled Dramouss (A Dream of Africa 1968). It was in 1966 when he was working for the government that he was exiled from Guinea for his political opinions in his third book. After everything that happened with his third book he no longer wrote books based on his political opinions. Though he did write a fourth book in 1978 titled, Le Maître de la parole - Kouma Lafôlô Kouma (The Guardian of the Word 1980). This book received the Prix de l'Académie Française award.

Laye later died in 1980. Leaving behind his wife and seven children.