Brigitte Tsobgny
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Brigitte Tsobgny | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 (age 63–64) |
| Occupation | Writer, Teacher |
| Nationality | Cameroonian |
Brigitte Tsobgny (born 1961) is a Cameroonian author of literature primarily for young readers, as well as an educator.
Brigitte Tsobgny was born in 1961 in Dschang, in the West Region of Cameroon.[1] She studied physics and pursued research and development of new materials for manufacturing industries. She also obtained a PhD in Sciences under the supervision of Jean-Jacques Videau, presented in 1989 at the University of Bordeaux, titled: "New thiohalogenide vitreous materials transparent in the infrared".[2] In the preface of one of her works, she states:
I love mathematics as much as I love poetry or painting. How many times I have been ecstatic over a beautiful mathematical demonstration? How often I am obsessed with a mathematical problem, thinking of nothing else, losing sleep over it!
.[3]
She then taught at the University of Réunion for three years, followed by positions in Belgium and France, all while dedicating herself to literature[1][3]
As an author, she initially wrote tales and stories for children and adolescents, including Quand la forêt parle, Ponok-Ponok, Drôles d'histoires mathématiques, and Fotakou, un petit mensonge de rien du tout. Quand la forêt parle depicts the initiatory journey of a teenager in the African rainforest, questioning African traditions and offering cultural insights. Fotakou, un petit mensonge de rien du tout is also set in the rainforest. Ponok-Ponok, Drôles d'histoires mathématiques is a collection of educational stories[1][4][5]
She later turned to writing for adults in a style that combines realism and poetry. Her first novel for adults, Rats, is a fable on human behavior, free will, and destiny, blending science and literature humorously. Two researchers observe and analyze the behavior of laboratory rats, imposing a rhythm of life regulated by their experiments. One day, a sewer rat infiltrates the laboratory. He tells his fellow rats about other possible lives outside and reveals that they are test subjects, prisoners of the researchers.[4] Her second novel, Amours tyranniques, explores non-exclusive love, infidelity, and the sincerity of feelings candidly and implicitly. Some love scenes are quite explicit, as seen in the opening of the novel. Structured as a nested novel, the narrative gradually reveals unsuspected lives.[4] In L'Afro-Parisienne et la suite arithmétique du Saigneur de Paris, an Afro-Parisian biophysicist attempts to decrypt the rituals of a serial killer. It indirectly analyzes French society, which makes life difficult for a quadragenarian of African origin, feeling marginalized due to her gender and Cameroonian origins.[6]
Selected works for young readers
- 1999: Quand la forêt parle, Acoria Jeunesse.
- 2002: Ponok-Ponok, Drôles d'histoires mathématiques, illustrated by François Warzala, Odin Éditions.
- 2004: Fotakou, un petit mensonge de rien du tout, illustrated by Augustin Détienne, Odin Éditions.
