Marie-Léontine TSIBINDA An author from Congo writing in French [Return to French — Page originale en français]

Marie-Léontine Tsibinda Bilombo was born in Girard in the Congo. Her parents were farmers, but she only lived with them during the school holidays. She went to Secondary school and University in Brazzaville where she obtained a Masters in English (Maîtrise en Littératures et Civilisations Américaines)
During the course of her life she has lived in various Congolese towns (Girard, Dolisie, Les Saras, Pointe-Noire, Bounda...). She has also travelled outside her country (Zaire, the Ivory Coast, Belgium, France, the United States). She is married with children and worked as a librarian at the American Cultural Centre in Brazzaville (1997). Because of Congo's civil war, she had to flee her country in 1999 and took refuge first in Niamey, later in Cotonou and eventually in Canada (2002).
Over the years, she has taken part in many literary Conferences organised by the Arts Faculty of Brazzavile University. She is a member of the PEN CLUB International, was the secretary of the Association AGIR pluriel and the treasurer of the Congolese Writers National Association. Between 1979 and 1987 she was also a member of Sony Labou Tansi's Rocado Zulu Theatrical Company.
In 1981, she received the National Prize for Poetry and in 1996, the Prize Unesco-Aschberg for her novel Les pagnes mouillés.

Publications

Poèmes de la terre [Poems of the Earth]. Brazzaville: Editions littéraires congolaises, 1980.

Mayombé. Paris: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 1980.

Une Lèvre naissant d'une autre [From one word to the next]. Heidelberg: Editions bantoues, 1984.

Demain, un autre jour [Tomorrow is another day]. Paris: Silex, 1987.

L'Oiseau sans arme [The peaceful bird]. (Illustrated by Michel Hengo). Jouy-Le-Moutier (France): Bajag-Meri, 1999.

Short Stories

"Mayangi", Peuples Noirs-Peuples Africains 20 (1981), pp.148-151.
A woman leaves her husband who has cheated on her.

"Quand gronde l'orage" ["When the storm rumbles"], (details of publication unknown, 1982).
A father rapes his daughter.

"L'irrésistible Dekha Danse" in M.M. Kintende. Un Voyage comme tant d'autres. Paris: Hatier, 1984.
A reveller meets an irresistible woman.

"La Princess d'ébène", ["The black princess"] Amina 169 (1st September 1985), pp.64-64.
A husband brings his unconscious wife to hospital.

Les hirondelles de mer. n.l.: Editions Acoria, 2009. (196p.). ISBN: 978-2-35572-019-2.
Collection of short stories written by the author over the past twentyfive years.

Anthology

Moi, Congo ou les rêveurs de la souveraineté. Jouy-Le-Moutier (France): Bajag-Meri, 2000. (204p.) ISBN: 2-911147-07-3.

Theater

La porcelaine de Chine. Ottawa: L'Interligne, 2013. (122p.). ISBN: 978-2-89699-374-1. Theater. [Prefaced by Guy Menga].

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Wet Skirts English translation of the short story "Les pagnes mouillés" by Kathleen McGovern, Goucher College (2005)