Simone KAYA An author from the Ivory Coast writing in French [Return to French — Page originale en français]

Simone Kaya was born in 1937 in Bouaflé (Ivory Coast). Her forbears come from what is now called Burkina Faso. Her father, who was the son of a military man and an agent of the French colonial administration, was born in Ouagadougou. Simone Kaya's parents had four daughters and four sons and, although they lived in town, they always kept in close contact with their family who remained in the village. There they learnt the African languages, Dioula, Samo and Baoulé which they spoke at home and in their social milieu. Simone Kaya was sent to her first school in Bocanda by her father who wanted, as she says in the dedication to her autobiography, "his daughters to learn to write as well as his sons". She went to France when she was thirteen to continue her studies. Having finished studying, she settled in Brazzaville, and then in Yaoundé. She is now living in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and has done so for very many years, with two of her four grown up children (1991). Simone Kaya is a social worker and nurse by profession.

Publications

Les Danseuses d'Impé-eya, jeunes filles à Abidjan [The Impé-eya Dansers, Young Girls in Abidjan]. Abidjan: INADES, 1976. (127p.). Autobiography.

Simone Kaya describes her childhood in Abidjan, her first years at school, her comrades, her family, the long journey back to her country of origin to visit her family, her return to Abidjan then her departure for France... Preface by Cheikh Hamidou Kane.

Le Prix d'une vie [The Price of a Life]. Abidjan: CEDA, 1984. (131p.). ISBN 2 86394 081 3. Novel.

Clémence is studying to be a nurse in France. She meets Jacques there, whom she marries, despite the fact that her parents disapprove of her marrying an African of a different origin to herself. Clémence and Jacques return to Africa and start a family, but the fall of the government, with a subsequent change in régime, forces them to flee the country. Jacques becomes increasingly preoccupied with his work and more and more distant from his wife and children and finally ends up falling out with them.

Editor ([email protected])
The University of Western Australia/French
Created: 25 December 1995
Modified: 27 August 1997
Archived: 10 May 2013
https://aflit.arts.uwa.edu.au/KayaSimoneEng.html