A LONG WAY FROM DOUALA. Este artículo no está disponible.A LONG WAY FROM DOUALA

Important issues of violence, terrorism, homosexuality and migration feature in FAR FROM DOUALA , the first publication in English of a work by Max Lobé, an important new voice in African writing.

On the trail of Roger, a brother who has gone north in search of football fame in Europe, Choupi, the narrator, takes with him the older Simon, a neighborhood friend. The bus trip north nearly ends in disaster when, at a pit stop, Simon goes wandering in search of grilled caterpillars. At the police station in Yaoundé, the local cop tells them that a feckless boza who wants to go to Europe is not worth police effort and their mother should go and pleasure the police chief if she wants help! Through a series of joyful sparky vignettes, Cameroon life is revealed in all its ups and downs. Issues of life and death are raised but the tone remains light and edgy.

Max Lobe was born in Douala, Cameroon. At eighteen he moved to Switzerland, where he earned a BA in communication and journalism and a master’s in public policy and administration. In 2017, his novel Confidences won the Ahmadou Kourouma Prize. Far From Douala, his latest novel, was published in 2018 to rave reviews in Switzerland and France. Other books by the author: L’Enfant du miracle, 39 rue de Berne, Confidences and La Trinité bantoue. Max Lobe lives in Geneva.