Alain Mabanckou: Rewriting the Congolese Story

On 18 March 1977 at 14.30, the third President of the People’s Republic of the Congo, Marien Ngouabi, is assassinated. In the frenzied aftermath, blame flies and ethnic divides widen, and far away, a family member is murdered for their alleged involvement.

At least, that’s how things seem to Michel, the naive teenage comrade at the centre Alain Mabanckou’s new fictionalised retelling of this historical moment. The Death of Comrade President sees Mabanckou back on the fruitful terrain of his 2015 International Man Booker contender, Tomorrow I’ll Be Twenty, offering up another philosophical, fleetingly absurdist portrait of the Congo’s postcolonial transition.

The luminary Mabanckou talks to award-winning writer, critic and cultural journalist Maya Jaggi, reflecting on the highs and lows of a career spanning four decades, and his enduring ability to boil the sweeping grand narratives of African history into exuberant, mischievous family dramas.

This is a live event, with an author Q&A.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

David Diop & Anna Moschovakis with Philippe Sands David Diop & Anna Moschovakis with Philippe Sands When we imagine the experiences of those who fought in ‘The Great War’, whose perspective are we taking? Perhaps the majority of histories have taken a Eurocentric view. Not French-Senegalese author David Diop, whose unforgettable short novel At Night All… Tracy Chevalier speaks to Clare Hunter at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Tracy Chevalier speaks to Clare Hunter at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Two decades after Girl with the Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier is back with another finely rendered story of women. Refusing to tend endlessly to her grieving mother after the Great War, Violet Speedwell begins a new life among the embroiderers of… James Naughtie: When Knowledge Could Be Deadly James Naughtie: When Knowledge Could Be Deadly James Naughtie has witnessed much political skulduggery as a special correspondent for BBC News, and he’s put this knowledge to use in his gripping spy thriller series. Today, Naughtie introduces The Spy Across the Water: the third outing for the Flemyng… Jo Hunter & John Loughton: Power to the People Jo Hunter & John Loughton: Power to the People When Jo Hunter established 64 Million Artists, an organisation that aims to encourage everybody in the UK to discover their creativity, little did she know that in 2020 she would have to dramatically change the way they reached people. The ‘COVID-19 pivot’… Interview - Elif Shafak (2015) Interview - Elif Shafak (2015) Writing in multiple languages was the subject of the day, and we caught up with Turkish writer Elif Shafak before she took to the stage with fellow multi-lingual writer Aleksandar Hemon. We also asked some audience members what they thought about the… Nana Oforiatta Ayim & Barnaby Phillips: Returning the Loot Nana Oforiatta Ayim & Barnaby Phillips: Returning the Loot 124 years ago, the British government sent 1,200 soldiers and sailors to invade the Kingdom of Benin in West Africa. This was just one of many so-called 'Punitive Expeditions' launched across the continent by the British Empire. Benin’s soldiers, armed… Ian Rankin at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival Ian Rankin at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival There’s no stopping Rebus. Ian Rankin’s iconic detective has recently made a stage debut in Long Shadows and will be resurrected on TV in a new series by Black Watch playwright Gregory Burke. The latest Rebus novel, In a House of Lies, is one of the… The Moth (2014 event) The Moth (2014 event) To celebrate the UK launch of their first book, which collects together 50 of their best stories, we invited The Moth, the legendary US storytelling organisation, to create a special one-off evening of stories inspired by our strand of events… Reading Scotland: Helen McClory, The New Edinburgh Gothic Reading Scotland: Helen McClory, The New Edinburgh Gothic In a northern European city not unlike Edinburgh, three young people’s lives intersect in the flat they share. But as Helen McClory’s eagerly anticipated Bitterhall unfolds, her characters Daniel, Orla and Tom begin to be haunted by something very strange… Hoda Barakat: Lost Voices of the Arab Spring Hoda Barakat: Lost Voices of the Arab Spring Ten years on from the uprisings across the Arab-speaking world, writers from countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Libya are offering important reflections on the uncertainty and tragedy that continues to affect people living there. In this event…