Calixthe Beyala is one of the most controversial figures on the contemporary African literary scene, and she is also one of the most prolific francophone writers of African origin. She has published twelve novels and two essays in major French publishing houses and has been awarded several prizes, such as the Grand prix littéraire de l’Afrique noire (1993), the Prix François Mauriac de l’Académie française (1994), the Prix tropique (1994) and the prestigious Grand prix du roman de l’Académie française (1996). Despite this tremendous success, the author is far from being universally appreciated. She has been confronted with accusations of plagiarism, pornography, hatred towards men and of having become estran

This article in full comprises 1124 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 10 January 2005

Citation: Martinek, Claudia. "Calixthe Beyala". The Literary Encyclopedia. 10 January 2005.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5874, accessed 9 February 2010.]