Kumanthio Zeinab Diallo

Biography

Koumanthio Zeinab Diallo was born in 1956 in Labé, Guinea, and grew up in the Fulani culture of ancient Fouta Djallon. A poet, novelist, and playwright, she is well known for her advocacy for African women, her critiques against forced marriage, and her use of tales inscribed in oral literature to represent her country’s culture. Her poetry collection, Les rires du silence (The Joys of Silence), received a prize from the President of the Republic of Guinea in 2005. In 1980, she earned an engineering diploma from the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry. She set up the Guinean branch of the PEN Club International and is a member of the International Committee of Women Writers. She is also President of the International Commission of African Women Poets and Writers.

Birth Date

1956-01-01

Place of Birth

Guinean

Country of Nationality

Guinea

Languages Spoken

French and Pular

Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry

Poetry Collections

Moi, Femme (Me, a woman)-- 1994
Pellun Gondhi, (Guinée: Éditions Ganndal, 1996);
Pour Les Oiseaux du Ciel et de la Terre (For the birds of heaven and earth)-- UNICEF, 1997;
Comme les Pétales du Crépuscule (Like Petals at Dawn)--Lomé: La Semeuse, 1998
Comme une Colombe en Furie, Poésie Pour Enfants (Like a dove in fury, poetry for children)-- Editions Linda, 1999;
La Morte de la Guerre (The dead of war)-- L'Harmattan, 2004
Les Rires du Silence (The Joys of Silence)--Paris: L'Harmattan, 2005

Sources

"Diallo, Koumanthio Zeinab." The University of Western Australia/French Archives, aflit.arts.uwa.edu.au/DialloKZeinabEng.html. Accessed 25 April 2022.
 
"Koumanthio Zeinab Diallo."** **Africultures, https://africultures.com/personnes/?no=18072. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
 
"Koumanthio Zeinab Diallo." Festival Internacional De Poesía De Medellín, www.festivaldepoesiademedellin.org/es/Revista/ultimas_ediciones/77_78/diallo.htm. Accessed 25 April 2022.
 
Leedom-Ackerman, Joanne. "Koumanthio Zeinab Diallo Archives." Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, www.joanneleedom-ackerman.com/tag/koumanthio-zeinab-diallo/. Accessed 25 April 2022.
 
"Koumanthio Zeinab Diallo." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 January 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koumanthio_Zeinab_Diallo. Accessed 25 April 2022.
 
Volet, Jean Marie. "Tradition and Modernity Are Here to Stay: An Analysis of Francophone African Women's Writings Published in 1997–98." Research in African Literatures, vol. 30, no. 2, 1999, pp. 182–193, https://doi.org/10.1353/ral.2005.0079.