Blaise Ndala

Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Blaise Ndala has lived in Ottawa since 2007. His debut novel, J'irai danser sur la tombe de Senghor, won the Ottawa Book Award for French fiction and was a finalist for the Trillim Book Award. His book Sans capote ni kalachnikov (translated into English as The War You Don't Hate) won Radio-Canada's 2019 Combat des livres and was a finalist for the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire and the Trillium Book Award. His third novel, 2021's Dans le ventre du Congo, won the Prix d'Ivoire pour la Littérature Africaine d'Expression Francophone and the Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma.