David Diop (novelist)

**David Diop** (born 24 February 1966) is a French writer. He writes books and teaches. He studies old French and African stories. He works at the University of Pau in France.

Diop won the 2021 International Booker Prize for his book _At Night All Blood Is Black_. He was the first French author to win. The book was also shortlisted for ten French awards and won other awards.

## Biography

David Diop was born in Paris in 1966. His mother is French. His father is from Senegal.

He moved to Dakar when he was five. He lived in Senegal as a child. He went back to France at 18 to study.

Diop has a doctorate from the Sorbonne.

In 1998, he became a teacher at the University of Pau and the Adour Region. He teaches 18th-century French literature and African French literature.

In 2009, he led a group studying Africa in European books. He got his habilitation in 2014.

Diop now leads the arts, languages, and literature department at the university. He lives in Pau.

## Early works

He published his first book in 2012. It is called _1889, l'Attraction universelle_. The book tells the story of 11 people from Senegal. They went to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

In 2018, he published his first scholarly work. It is called _Rhétorique nègre au <abbr>xviii<sup>e</sup></abbr> siècle_. The book talks about how Africans were shown in 18th-century travel writing and abolitionist texts.

## _At Night All Blood Is Black_ / _Frère d'âme_

Diop's second novel is _Frère d'âme_. It was published in 2018. The novel is about World War I and colonialism. It tells the story of Senegalese Tirailleurs fighting for France. The main character, Alfa Ndiaye, goes mad after his friend's death. He becomes very violent towards German soldiers. Diop was inspired by his great-grandfather's war service. His great-grandfather never talked about the war. Diop read many books about the Tirailleurs.

_Frère d'âme_ was shortlisted for many French awards. These include the Prix Goncourt, Prix Renaudot, Prix Médicis, and Prix Femina. In 2018, Diop won the Students' Prix Goncourt. He also won the Swiss Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma.

_Frère d'âme_ was translated into English in 2020. The English title is _At Night All Blood Is Black_. It won the 2020 _Los Angeles Times_ Fiction Book Prize. Diop and his translator Anna Moschovakis won the 2021 International Booker Prize. Diop was the first French author and first African to win the prize.

The novel is being translated into 13 languages. The Italian translation won the Strega European Prize. The Dutch translation won the Europese Literatuurprijs.

## _La Porte du voyage sans retour_ / _Beyond the Door of No Return_

Diop's third novel is _Beyond the Door of No Return_. It is set in the early 1800s. The story is about a Frenchman obsessed with an escaped slave's fate in Senegal. This takes place during the French colonial occupation. In September 2023, the English translation was longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature.

## Bibliography

- _1889, l'Attraction universelle_ (2012)
- _Rhétorique nègre au <abbr>XVIII<sup>e</sup></abbr> siècle_ (2018)
- _Frère d'âme_ (2018). _At Night All Blood Is Black_, trans. Anna Moschovakis (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Pushkin Press, 2020)
- _La Porte du voyage sans retour_ (2021). _Beyond the Door of No Return_, trans. Sam Taylor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Pushkin Press, 2023)

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: David Diop
- **image**: David Diop (2018).png
- **caption**: Diop in 2018
- **birth place**: Paris, France
- **alma mater**: Paris-Sorbonne University