Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse

Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse was born in Butare, Rwanda, in 1979. She is a survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi, from which she fled to France in 1994. There she studied political science and worked for various international NGOs.

After two books of short stories and a volume of prose poetry, she published her debut novel »Tous tes enfants disperses« (eng. »All Your Children, Scattered«, 2022) in 2019, which examines the consequences of the genocide in Rwanda on three generations of a family. It is told from three perspectives: Immaculata survived the massacre in Butare by hiding in the basement of a bookshop. Her daughter Blanche was evacuated to France shortly before the murders began, got married there and had a child: Stokely grew up in Bordeaux. When Blanche returns to Rwanda and meets her mother again, old wounds are reopened. Meanwhile, Stokely tries to understand where he comes from and where he belongs. »The novel is a poignant meditation on the violence that ruptured so many lives«, according to the »Guardian«. It was awarded the Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie, among other awards.

Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse’s second novel, »Consolée« (2022), focuses on the fate of the so-called Métis: Afro-Belgian children who were abducted by the thousands during the Belgian colonial period in Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda and grew up in orphanages or with adoptive families. In 1954, Consolée, the daughter of a white man and a Rwandan woman, was taken from her family. 65 years later, now suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, she lives in a French nursing home. There she meets the aspiring art therapist Ramata, who is herself of Senegalese origin and tries to trace Consolée’s life. The novel was awarded the Prix Ahmadou Kourouma, which is presented at the Geneva Salon du Livre.

The most recent publication is the essay »Le convoy« (2024; tr: The Convoy), for which the author undertook extensive research: Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse was rescued from Rwanda in 1994 with a Swiss aid convoy accompanied by a BBC team. In conversations with survivors, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists who were there at the time, she reconstructs the story: »My own story, and through it – for this is really about finding my place once again within a community – ours, the story of the children of the convoys«, says the author. The memoire received the Prix Essai France Télévisions.

Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse lives in France. She will give the opening speech at the 24th ilb in September 2024.

Touts tes enfants dispersés

Autrement
Paris, 2019

All Your Children, Scattered

Europa Editions
London, 2022
(englische Übersetzung: Alison Anderson)

Consolée

Autrement
Paris, 2022

Le Convoi

Flammarion
Paris, 2024