Koulsy Lamko (born 1959) is a

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

ian-born

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and university lecturer. Born in Dadouar, Lamko left his country for

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

in 1979 due to the beginning of the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. There, he became acquainted with

Thomas Sankara Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 1983, following his takeover in a coup, until ...

and involved with the Institute of Black Peoples in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

. Lamko spent ten years promoting community theater in Burkina Faso through the Theater of the Community and helped found the International Festival of Theatre for Development. Some of his poetry was published in '' Revue Noire'' in 1994. In 1997 he co-released the album ''Bir Ki Mbo'' of mixed poetry and music in tribute to Sankara in collaboration with Stéphane Scott and Rémi Stengel. A regular attendant at the Limousin Festival International des Francophonies, he briefly lived in

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He then moved to

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, where he read for his doctorate at the

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

in Butare while founding the university's Center for the Arts and the Theater and teaching theater and creative writing. His doctoral thesis was on emerging theatrical aesthetics in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

."6th Poetry Africa Festival 29 April - 5 May 2002: Poetry Africa Biographies - page 2 of 4"
, ukzn.ac.za His experience in Rwanda led him to write his novel, ''La phalène des collines'' ("''The butterfly of the hills''"), about the 1994 genocide. In 2009 he stayed, as a guest of Amsterdam Vluchtstad, in the former apartment of Anne Frank and her family at the Amsterdam Merwedeplein. He currently lives in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Publications

;Plays * ''Le camp tend la sébile'', 1988, Editions Presses Universitaires de Limoges * ''Ndo kela ou l'initiation avortée'', 1993, Editions Lansman * ''Tout bas … si bas'', 1995, Editions Lansman * ''Comme des flèches'', 1996, Editions Lansman * ''Le mot dans la rosée'', 1997, Editions Actes Sud Papiers * ''La tête sous l'aisselle'', 1997, Editions Ligue de l'Enseignement and DGER ;Short stories and tales * ''Regards dans une larme'', 1990, Editions Mondia-Canada * ''Les repos des masques'', 1995, Editions Marval * ''Sou, sou, sou, gré, gré, gré'', 1995, Editions FOL Haute Vienne * ''Aurore'', 1997, Editions Le bruit des autres ;Novels * ''La phalène des collines'', 2000, Centre Universitaire des Arts * ''Les racines du yucca'', 2011, Philippe Rey ;Poetry * ''Exils'', Solignac 1993, Le bruit des Autres ;Essays * ''Koulsy Lamko on exotic man'', 2009, The Power of Culture"Koulsy Lamko on exotic man"
, www.powerofculture.nl

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamko, Koulsy Chadian dramatists and playwrights Chadian academics 1959 births Living people Chadian novelists Chadian poets Chadian short story writers People from Guéra Region 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century novelists 20th-century poets 20th-century short story writers Cultural activists