The ceremony was held at the National Museum of the DRC in the presence of Félix Tshisekedi, current President of the African Union. Osvalde Lewat will receive his award in front of African leaders in February 2022 as part of the African Union Heads of State and Government Summit in Addis Ababa. This distinction, initiated by the Congolese presidency of the AU, is accompanied by a donation of 30,000 dollars.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
Five works written in English and five others in French were pre-selected by a jury made up of experts from five sub-regions of Africa. The jurors worked by videoconference. Only four were present at the ceremony on Monday. Unanimity emerged around the work of the eclectic Osvalde Lewat, The Aquatics.
Writer, photographer and director, the Cameroonian has had great success with her first novel. She will receive her award in front of African leaders in February 2022 as part of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa. The Pan-African Grand Prize for Literature is one of the flagship projects of the Congolese presidency of the African Union.
Félix Tshisekedi wanted to mark, through this initiative, the year 2021 given that the annual theme chosen by the African Union was “Arts, culture and heritage”: ” Levers to build the Africa we want. »
In the same logic, the Congolese Head of State also announced the decision to erect in Kinshasa, a house of African and Afro-descendant culture. Already legally created, this structure awaits the provision of a seat. According to Félix Tshisekedi, it will be a body for the study and enhancement of pan-African historical and cultural heritage.
