Fiston Mwanza Mujila

Long before he debuted as a novelist, Mujila built up a reputation as a performing poet. His unique performance style makes him a favorite of many a poetry event. His poems are slightly reminiscent of voodoo – not the Caribbean version, which uses needles and dolls to attack one’s enemies (what kind of poems could you even pair with that?), but a version that was heretofore unknown to me, one that I, in all my ‘white innocence’, associate with his Congolese roots. His work may at first appear to be mild in all its nervous energy and sensitivity, but a small volcano lurks beneath, about to spew emotional insanity. Mujila reveals a kind of madness that is mostly directed at inner demons. His poems are like magic spells, while at the same time leaving a great deal of room for humor and self-relativization. His images are often morbid in their physical violence, yet this violence is more reminiscent of the kind in old cartoons than of the violence of tribal conflict and civil war which show up in news reports about Congo. As a white reader, I cannot help thinking about that kind of violence too. Yet Fujila’s poems also transcend the postcolonial space they recall. Absurd humor, verbal energy, and jazzy rhythms combine to create a cocktail that is as spell-binding as it is lyrical. This makes him one of the great voices of contemporary African literature. Bibliography
In French
'Un corps vide' (short story). In: Chroniques du Katanga, Editions Sépia, Lubumbashi, 2008
Poèmes et rêvasseries de Poèmes de l’aube contractée, reconvertie et perpétrée dans l’arène des sépultures maudites… (Prière aux dieux). Lingkua Ediciones (poetry), Madrid, 2009
Der Fluss im Bauch/ Le Fleuve dans le ventre (poetry). Bilingual French/German edition, Edition Tannhäuser, Ottensheim an der Donau, 2013
Craquelures (poetry). L’Arbre à paroles, Amay, 2011
Funérailles d’Ignace d’Antrian (short story), Centre-Wallonie Bruxelles de Kinshasa et les Archives et Musée de la Littérature, Brussels, 2002
Tram 83 (novel). Editions Métaillé, Paris, 2014
Et les moustiques sont des fruits à pépins & Te voir dressé sur tes deux pattes ne fait que mettre de l’huile au feu (play). Play, Manage, Éditions Lansman, Manage, 2015
Soleil privé de mazout (poetry). L’Arbre à paroles, Amay, 2016

In German
Tram 83 (novel). Trans. Katharina Meyer, Lena Müller. Paul Zsolnay Verlag, Vienna, 2016
Zu der Zeit der Königinmutter (play, written in German). Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2018

In Dutch
Tram 83. (novel). Trans. Jeanne Holierhoek. De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 2015
Selected poems. Trans. Katelijne de Vuyst in: Terras, ‘Afrika’, nr. 15, 2018

In English
Tram 83 (novel). Trans. Roland Glasser. Deep Vellum Publishing, Dallas, 2015