Camara Laye
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Biography
Educated to become an engineer, Camara Laye had a productive career as a
writer despite political difficulties. Born in 1928 in Guinea while the
country was still under French rule, Laye left his village for a French
education in Conakry, the capital. He eventually was awarded an
engineering scholarship and left for France in 1947. These contrasts
between village life and city life, and then between African culture and
European culture, profoundly affected Laye. He decided to write about the
past he missed, the result being his first book, The Dark Child. He was married the same year and
wrote his second book the following year. He worked for the government for
a while, but in 1966 was exiled from Guinea because of the political
opinions in his third book. In 1970, his wife was arrested (for being his
wife) when she returned to Guinea to visit her ailing mother. Laye stopped
his political writings, his next, and last, book being of a different type
and not published until 1978. Laye died in Senegal in 1980.
A note on his name: though written as Camara Laye, as if Laye is his
family name, it is really his personal name. The family name is Kamara. In
English-language reference sources and bibliographies, he is most often
listed under Laye, though occasionally under Camara (and never under
Kamara). So when searching a print source, check under both C and L.
Electronic sources usually take names in any order, but it still may need
to be tried both ways.
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Works
1953, The Dark Child, published in England
as The African Child
1954, The Radiance of the King
1966, A Dream of Africa
1978, The Guardian of the Word
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Author's Primary Publisher
Currently, there is only one of Laye's books in print, which is:
The Dark Child, reissue ed., 1994, Noonday Press, 080901548X,
$9.00
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
19 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003
1-800-788-6262
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Similar Authors You Might Enjoy
Franz Kafka
A great site about the Czech author to whom Laye has been compared.
Mongane
Serote
A site of poetry by this South African author who also writes moving
historical and political novels.
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From here you may also go to:
The Dark Child
The Little-Known
Literaries Main Page
If you have comments or suggestions about this page, e-mail Patty
Rettig at prettig4@lycos.com.
This page was last updated on January 17, 2001.