Bessora

Anyone can identify with Alpha: he raises the question of destiny. Do we take it in hand? What meaning do we give to our life?”

Bessora is a prize-winning French author of Swiss and Gabonese heritage, and is deeply committed to telling unheard and suppressed stories. She has travelled extensively and her fiction is coloured by her experiences of different cultures and underpinned by extensive research and her academic background as an anthropologist.

Ink Stains won the Fénéon Prize in 2001 and Bessora was awarded the Grand Prix Littéraire d'Afrique noire for her 2007 novel Pick Me Pretty Sirs. She has been compared to Raymond Queneau and Nathalie Sarraute.

In telling Alpha's story, Bessora's aim was to create a strong connection between narrator and reader. She says, “Alpha is like your brother, whispering in your ear. You are very close to him. So anyone can identify with Alpha: he raises the question of destiny. Do we take it in hand? What meaning do we give to our life?”