Ananda Devi - Mauritian Poetess
Ananda Devi was born at Trois-Boutiques in Mauritius. She studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where she obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology. In 1977, she published a collection of short stories Solstices. After spending several years in Brazzaville in the Congo, she moved to Ferney-Voltaire (Switzerland) in 1989, the same year in which her first novel Rue la poudrière was published. This was followed by more novels: Le Voile de Draupadi in 1993, L'Arbre fouet in 1997 and, in 2000, Moi, l'interdite, which received the Prix Radio France du Livre de l'Océan Indien. Her novel, Eve de ses décombres, won the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie in 2006, as well as several other prizes. It was adapted to cinema by Sharvan and Harrikrisna Anenden. In 2007, Devi received the Certificat d'Honneur Maurice Cagnon du Conseil International d'Études Francophones. She has since won other literary prizes, including the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature française of the Académie française. In 2010 she was bestowed with Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. Ananda Devi has published eleven novels as well as short stories and poetry, and was featured at the PEN World Voices Festival in New York in 2015. She has won multiple literary awards, including the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises (2014), the Prix Mokanda (2012), the Prix Louis-Guilloux (2010), and the Prix RFO du livre (2006). Devi was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 2010. |
Quand la nuit consent à me parler, poetry collection (2011) Quand la nuit consent à me parler C’est à la lame Qu’elle émince Les lieux de certitude Qu’elle mutile Les aimés en solitude Quand la nuit consent à me parler C’est pour me dire Les mots qui n’ont pas su Inciser dans mes mains L’infamie longtemps tue Belles racines de folie Quand la nuit consent à me parler C’est me tournant le dos Parce que nul arbre ne pousse Sur le lisse de ma peau Je n’ai pas bien souffert Ni bien ri ni bien aimé Le peu ne la contente pas Ni amie ni ennemie Elle voudrait que je danse (2011, 36) | | When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me, English translation by Kazim Ali (HarperCollins India, 2019)When the night agrees to speak to me
That she slices The places of certainty That it mutilates The loved ones in solitude When the night agrees to speak to me
The words that did not know
The infamy long silenced Beautiful roots of madness When the night agrees to speak to me
Because no tree grows
I have not suffered well Nor laughed nor loved well The little does not satisfy her
She would like me to dance |
”Ananda Devi is an author of international reputation. Well-known for her novels that deal with questions of identity of the inhabitants of Indian descendence in Mauritius, socio-political conditions of young women in a traditional setting in Mauritius. But she also deals with questions of marginalization, with Le Soupir, she approaches the destiny of the island of Rodriques, with La vie de Josépin le fou, the desperate tentative of a mentally disordered person who in order to gain affection kidnaps twins, but also the daily violence in the suburbs of the capital in Eve de ses décombres. In her collections of poems, the themes of the novels also recur in very strong metaphors.” Prof. Dr. Ute Fendler, Vice Dean of Internationalisation and Public Engagement and Member of the Research Section “Arts & Aesthetics” at the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence |