![]() ![]() With regard to Africa, the media fail in this mission.” “The vision of Africa in the American mind is shaped by films, music, art, entertainment and the news media… (but) only the news media have the mission to inform. In the preface to Aya, Myriam Montrat’s 1988 essay From the Heart of an African is quoted: Yopougon, or “Yop City” is populated with mothers, fathers, sisters, friends, lovers - it is a place we all know. I devoured the first three in the series in a couple of days - the stories are simultaneously sweet, fast-paced, and full of heart. The Aya books tell an unpretentious and gently humorous story of an Africa we rarely see–spirited, hopeful and resilient. ![]() Aya, her graphic novel series, taps into Abouet’s childhood memories of Ivory Coast in the 1970s, a prosperous, promising time in that country’s history. She now lives in a suburb of Paris, and remains closely connected to the country of her birth. ![]() Marguerite Abouet was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 1971, and sent to study in France at the age of 12, under the care of a great uncle. ![]()
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