Adamou Idé Explained

Adamou Idé^[1] (born 22 November 1951)^[2] is a Nigerien poet and novelist.

Biography

A native speaker of the Zarma language, Idé left his home in Niamey, Niger, to study public administration in France, receiving degrees from The Sorbonne (Université de Paris I) and the Institut international d'administration publique in Paris, serving as an official in the Government of Niger and in international organizations. Idé published his first collection of poems, Cri Inachivé (The Unfinished Cry) in 1984, and his first novel in 1987. He has published both in French and in Zarma. Idé won the first Nigerien National Poetry Prize (Prix national de Poésie) in 1981 and the Grand Prix Littéraire Boubou Hama du Niger in 1996. He has served as a jury member for the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1991 and received the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite ("Knight of the Order of Merit") of Niger. He has served as the president of the "Societé des Gens du Lettres du Niger" and the 3rd African Forum of Documentary Film (Niamey, 2008.)^[3]

Works

• Tous les blues ne donnent pas le cafard^[4] (Not All Blues Make You Depressed), Novel, Editions La Cheminante, Ciboure, 2009
• Misères et grandeurs ordinaires (Miseries and Glories of Regular People), Novel, Editions La Cheminante, Hendaye, 2008
• Chants de mer pour un fils malade, (Sea Shanties for a Sick Child) Poems, Editions Nathan-Adamou, Niamey, 2006
• Ay ne hân J'ai dit que..., (So I Said...) Short fiction, (Edited collection, Zarma language), Editions Albasa, Niamey, 2004
• Wa sappe ay se ! Votez pour moi ! (Vote For Me!) Short fiction, (Zarma language), Editions Albasa, Niamey, 2003
• Talibo, un enfant du quartier (Talibo, a Neighborhood Child), Novel, Editions L'Harmattan, Paris, 1996
• Sur les terres de silence (On the Lands of Silence), Poems, Editions L'Harmattan, Paris, 1994
• La Camisole de paille (The Straw Camisole), Novel, Imprimerie Nationale du Niger [INN], Niamey, 1987
• Cri inachevé (The Unfinished Cry, French/Zarma), Poems, Imprimerie Nationale du Niger [INN], Niamey, 1984

External links

• English language translation of poem "J'ai peur" ("I'm Scared") at the festival de poesia de Medellin (2005).

References

• Simon Gikandi. "Adamou Idé". Encyclopedia of African literature. Taylor & Francis, 2003 pp. 13–14.
• Amadou Ide, écrivain nigérien. Raliou Hamed-Assaleh, Radio France Internationale. 30 January 2010.
• "Tous les blues ne donnent pas le cafard" le nouveau livre de Adamou Idé. Fofo Magazine (Niamey). 8 September 2009.

Notes and References

1. His family name is Adamou, listed first in Zarma tradition. See Gikandi (2003), p. 10.
2. Biography at the festival de poesia de Medellin (2005)
3. http://www.lesahel.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=702:fin-de-la-3eme-edition-du-forum-africain-du-film-documentaire-plusieurs-uvres-nigeriennes-primees&catid=36:pages-culturelles&Itemid=55 Fin de la 3ème édition du forum africain du film documentaire : plusieurs œuvres nigériennes primées
4. The phrase "donner le cafard", literally "gives you the cockroach", is a French language idiom meaning "to make depressed".