Blaise Ndala is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

writer. He is most noted for his novel ''Sans capote ni kalachnikov'', which won the 2019 edition of ''

Le Combat des livres ''Le Combat des livres'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Ici Radio-Canada Première in Canada. A French edition of the ''Canada Reads'' competition, the program was launched in 2004. It aired annually from ...

''."Marie-Maude Denis et Sans capote ni kalachnikov remportent le Combat national des livres 2019"

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, May 10, 2019. Originally from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, Ndala emigrated to Canada in 2007 and works as a lawyer in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. His debut novel, ''J'irai danser sur la tombe de Senghor'', was published in 2014; it won the

Ottawa Book Award Ottawa Book Award and Prix du livre d'Ottawa is a Canadian literary award presented by the City of Ottawa to the best English and French language books written in the previous year by a living author residing in Ottawa.

for French fiction, and was a finalist for the

Trillium Award The Trillium Book Award ( or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is overseen by the Ministry of Herit ...

."Blaise Ndala, auteur à Ottawa"

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, February 27, 2019. The novel was subsequently optioned for a film adaptation by director

Rachid Bouchareb Rachid Bouchareb (born 1 September 1953) is a French film director and producer. His films are based on the complex history of France and its relationship with its former colony, Algeria. His films also examine racial discrimination and conflict ...

. ''Sans capote ni kalachnikov'' was published in 2017,"Le regard lucide de Blaise Ndala sur l’instrumentalisation de l’horreur"
''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', February 18, 2017. and was a finalist for the Trillium Award and the

Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire The Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire (one of the major literary prizes of Black Africa for Francophone Literature) is a literary prize presented every year by the ADELF, the Association of French Language Writers for a French original text ...

. In ''Le Combat des livres'', the novel was defended by journalist

Marie-Maude Denis Marie-Maude Denis (born in Sudbury, Ontario) is an investigative journalist and announcer working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Montreal. Since 2008, she has been working on the public affairs program '' Enquête'', and in Septembe ...

References

21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male novelists Canadian novelists in French Democratic Republic of the Congo novelists Democratic Republic of the Congo male writers Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Canada Franco-Ontarian people Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Black Canadian novelists Novelists from Ottawa {{Canada-writer-stub