René Maran was the first black writer to win the renowned French literary prize, the Prix Goncourt. He was born in Martinique and spent many years of his early childhood in Africa. After receiving his formal education in France, he joined the French colonial service and spent over twenty years in Black Africa. Batouala was born out of this experience, and was first published in French in 1921. This translation is, however, based upon the franker 1938 edition. He wrote seven other books including Le Livre de la Brousse (1934) and an autobiographical novel Un Homme pareil aux autres. He died in 1960.
