Tanella Boni
trans. by Todd Fredson
My patience lacks conviction
My patience lacks conviction
Me skinned alive
Shipped season to season
Day to day across the streets of the world
In the unnoticed corners
The experts forget to mention it
Another shooting
So close to me
I’m left speechless
This voice broken
Though not astonished
I’m not talking about mass deaths
The lives cut off for nothing
I’m talking about what I see right in front of me
The indelible imprint of my skin
But this isn’t really about me is it
I’m crossing a country sensitive
To the color of skin
I have the impression of living in the 19th century
Tanella Boni is one of the most prominent figures in modern African literature. Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, she did her advanced studies in France, returning to Côte d’Ivoire as a professor of philosophy. She served as president of the Writers’ Association of Côte d’Ivoire from 1991 to 1997. Boni’s 2004 novel, Matins de couvre-feu (Mornings after curfew) received the Ahmadou Kourouma Prize. In 2009 she won the Antonio Viccaro International Poetry Prize. Her poetry collection, Là où il fait si clair en moi / There where it’s so bright in me, won the 2018 Prix Théophile Gautier from the French Academy.
Todd Fredson is the author of two poetry collections, Century Worm (New Issues Press, 2018) and The Crucifix-Blocks (Tebot Bach, 2012). He has published translations of three books of poetry by Afro-francophone authors: The future has an appointment with the dawn (University of Nebraska Press, 2018) by Tanella Boni, which was a finalist for the 2019 Best Translated Book Award and for the 2019 National Translation Award; Think of Lampedusa (UNP, 2017) by Josué Guébo; and My country, tonight (Action Books, 2016) by Josué Guébo. Fredson has been awarded Fulbright and NEA fellowships. Find him at toddfredson.com.