==Sourcing, references, and small copyvio issues== 
 I'm trying to add references, as this had none.  Shouldn't be hard as he is very famous.  Small problem is that bits were lifted directly from his US publishers' bio (even the mis-spelling sub-saharian.  Tone is also therefore hagiographic. Here's the publishers bio so editors can remove those bits. 

  

 Alain Mabanckou is considered to be one of the most talented and prolific writers in the French language today and the first francophone sub-saharian African writer to be published by Gallimard in its prestigious "collection" called La Blanche. He was born in Congo-Brazzaville in 1966 and is mostly known for his novels, notably Verre Cassé (BROKEN GLASS) which was unanimously praised by the press, critics and readers alike. 

 In 2006 he published Memoires de porc-épic (Memoirs of a Porcupine) which garnered him the Prix RENAUDOT, one of the highest distinctions in literature written in french. His novels are published in more than fifteen languages. 
 He his currently a professor of French and Francophone studies at the University of California-Los Angeles. 

  

 Important bio to have in Wikipedia and to get right, btw.