Edouard Maunick

Edouard Joseph Marc Maunick (born September 23, 1931, Mauritius) is a Mauritian, African poet, critic, and translator.

Maunick is a métis or mulatto, and as such was the subject of discrimination from both blacks and whites. He worked briefly as a librarian in Port-Louis before going to Paris in 1960, where he wrote, lectured, and directed for Coopération Radiophonique. He was also a frequent contributor to Présence Africaine and other journals.

Maunick's work was based not in the more traditional search for roots to establish an individual identity. Instead, he lamented his own isolation and the persecution of his people in poetry collections such as Les Oiseaux du sang (1954; "The Birds of Blood"), Les Manèges de la mer (1964; "Taming the Sea"), and Mascaret ou le livre de la mer et de la mort (1966; "Mascaret or The Book of the Sea and of Death"). His Fusillez-moi (1970; "Shoot Me") was written as a protest against blacks killing blacks in Nigeria. Later works include Africaines du temps jadis (1976; "African Women of Times Gone By") and En mémoire de mèmorable suivi de Jusqu'en terre Yoruba (1979; "A Memory of the Memorable, Followed by As Far as the Land of the Yoruba").

On October 16, 2003, Edouard Maunick received the Grand Prix de la Francophonie, awarded by the Académie française. He won the 1977 Prix Guillaume Apollinaire for Ensoleillé vif.

His son, Jean-Paul Maunick is a record producer and member of the band Incognito.

References

• Édouard J. Maunick, biography, bibliography, links and recordings of the poet reading his work (in French; Île en île).
• Label France: One hundred creative artists who have chosen France - Edouard Maunick, the marriage of French and Creole.
• Review of Elle & île - Poèmes d'une même passion