Gaby’s unimagineable journey continues along with knowledge that his life will always be really two lives, the one before the war and the one after. This interview took place in the lounge of the Empire Hotel at the Lincoln Center, where a truly fascinating nexus of cultural organizations, including the French Embassy and Faye’s book editor, had arranged for him to stay during his tour. RV: When Gabriel finds his mother again, years after the war, she is wandering the streets and babbling. It’s heartbreaking. Why did you write the story this way? I used to think I was exiled from my country. But, in retracing the steps of my past, I have understood that I was exiled from my childhood. Which seems so much crueler.” Le 19 octobre 2018, il dévoile Balade brésilienne, avec Flavia Coelho en vedette, un extrait de son second EP Des fleurs, prévu pour le 2 novembre de la même année [9 ]. En 2019, il fait une apparition dans l'album La Nuit du réveil d' Oxmo Puccino avec qui il interprète Parce que la vie.

Faye, born in 1982, grew up in Burundi and fled to France in 1995 - it remains unclear how much of this book is autobiographical, but there's a documentary in which Faye visits Burundi and Ruanda, including places from his childhood (here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjWxA...) and a very telling song entitled "Petit Pays" he did in 2012 (here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTF2p...). We thought that his [music] fan base could help promote the book, but its success almost caught us by surprise. As early as May, something began to happen. From the newsrooms we heard it was the book of the next literary season that people were going to talk about and it was the book that scouts and agents were talking about. The translations of Petit pays into thirty languages and its five French literary prizes attest to the universal appeal of this first novel by Gaël Faye, a Franco-Rwandese rapper and former London trader. Bearing the eponymous title of one of Faye’s autobiographical rap songs, the novel is set in Bujumbura, the capital of the child-narrator’s paradise, Burundi, the “small country” abutting Rwanda, Zaïre (today’s DRC), and Lake Tanganyika. Born, as Faye sings, of a “croissant au beurre” and a “pili-pili,” the author’s and narrator’s lives overlap. Each is the son of a French expatriate father and a Rwandese refugee mother, born and raised in Burundi during the years leading up to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the concurrent tragedy that unfolds in Burundi, during the novel’s diegesis from 1992 to 1995, and necessitates their expatriation to France. Africiné - Gaël Faye - Quand deux fleuves se rencontrent". Africiné (in French) . Retrieved 2022-06-19.I used to think I was exiled from my country. But, in retracing the steps of my past, I have understood that I was exiled from my childhood. Which seems so much crueler. The book starts with Gaby reflecting on a conversation with his father, a turning point in his understanding of the ethnic origin of his people, of the difference between the Hutu, and the Tutsi. He is trying to understand the motivation for the ethnic violence that caused his mother to flee her country of origin. La storia sembra simile a quella personale dello scrittore che però, fortunatamente, mi sembra di capire che lasciando l’Africa avesse accanto i suoi genitori. GF: I never could have imagined this. Even when I was writing the book, even when the book was done. I did not imagine this. Nobody does. Rap is a particular form, with its own connotations. People don’t always listen to the words. They stop at the music. But what I was rapping about at that time, there were themes that I have also approached in the novel. The novel doesn’t talk about hip hop, but it does talk about exile, and childhood, and Burundi, and Rwanda. In my music, I was on themes that weren’t working in that form. So the reception of the book surprised me. But also: I am the only writer who is doing this. I am the only writer who comes from Rwanda and Burundi, who travels to speak about it. Nobody else is doing that. It’s weird. I’m like an ambassador.

Parisian editor Catherine Nabokov was working on independent projects for Juliette Joste, then an editor at Bellefond, who subsequently moved to Grasset. Literature is very much part of Nabokov’s life. Her father, Ivan Nabokov, besides being Vladimir Nabokov’s cousin, is a respected editor known for publishing Norman Mailer, Salman Rushdie, and VS Naipaul, among others, in French. Valérie Trierweiler, « Gaël Faye, retour au Petit Pays», sur parismatch.com, 23 août 2020 (consulté le 22 février 2021) Faye wrote a first draft in three months, says Nabokov, and after that he worked on editing for several months and the final version was ready in October 2015. I’ll be honest: This is a slim novel with very a serious subject. But! It is also the kind of book that will stay with you for a long time. Set amidst the beautiful scenery of Africa and based on a dark chapter in Burundi’s history, Small Country—which won France’s most prestigious literary award—is a powerful, important story about family, cultural differences, and war. Although the novel is not autobiographical, it is based on Gaël Faye's own experiences growing up in Burundi during this period. Gaël Faye himself was born in 1982 in Bujumbura to a French father and Rwandan mother. Just like Gaby, at the age 13, he emigrated to France with his family, escaping the Burundian civil war. I had to leave. She told me to keep these words in memory of her: beware of the cold, watch over your secret gardens, become rich in your readings, your encounters, your loves, never forget where you come from... Petit Pays is a haunting coming-of-age story about what it means to belong and to grow up during a period where violence and resentments reach their peaks. It is a tale of loss, family and friends, disrupted lives, beautiful and painful memories, and the burden and gift of survival.Colpisce, ma forse anche no, che all’epoca, dall’aprile al luglio del 1994, abbiamo ignorato quello che stava succedendo in Rwanda (ma questo piccolo libro accenna anche a quello che era successo prima, a partire dall’indipendenza, in Rwanda e in Burundi), e adesso se ne parli perché a scriverne è un famoso rapper, la cui fama illumina un angolo di mondo rimasto troppo a lungo al buio. Gaël Faye reçoit le 4 ePrix du roman des étudiants France Culture-Télérama», sur www.livreshebdo.fr, 13 décembre 2016 (consulté le 13 décembre 2016).

Faye was born in Bujumbura, Burundi of a French father and Rwandan mother. [1] He immigrated to France at the age of 13, escaping from the Burundian civil war. [2] He studied economics and finance. [3] Writing a song is like swimming in a river with banks on each side and writing a novel is like swimming in the ocean.” Il a collaboré avec de nombreux artistes, dont Mulatu Astatke, Bonga Kuenda, Kolinga, Ben l’Oncle Soul, Saul Williams. It was a terrifying time, but after having lived through it himself, the author knows how to expertly intertwine unspeakable horrors with the small moments of beauty and humor that characterize a boy just trying to live like everything is still normal. It’s not always an easy read, but I ask you to trust me when I say it’s a worthy one. Don’t forget, books that break your heart also strengthen your soul.The novel is based on Gaël Faye's own experiences growing up in Burundi during this period; the author has, however, stressed that it is not strictly autobiographical. [3] Reception [ edit ]