Fatou Keïta (born 1965) is an
Ivorian writer of children's books and novels.
Education and career
Born in
Soubré in
Ivory Coast, Fatou Keïta had her primary education in
Bordeaux, where her father was studying surgery.[1] She subsequently went to high school in
Bouaké, where she gained her baccalaureate in 1974. In 1981, she graduated from the University of Côte d'Ivoire, and did further studies in England and the United States. In 1995 she won a
Fulbright Scholarship and went to the
University of Virginia at
Charlottesville to research Black African women writers in the US as well as in England.[2] She went on to become a lecturer in the English Department of the
Université de Cocody.[1]
She has won awards for her writings for children.[3] Her first novel, Rebelle (1998), deals with
female genital cutting.
Awards and honours
1994, Le petit garçon bleu, First Prize, literary competition for Children's Books organised by the ACCT[4]
1997, Le petit garçon bleu, commendation, UNESCO Prize[4]
Le petit garçon bleu, Ivory Coast Prize for Excellence[4]