Alain Mabanckou is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic. His work depicts the experience of contemporary Africa and the African diaspora in France. A French citizen born in the Republic of the Congo, he currently teaches literature in the Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies at UCLA. Known for his novels and non-fiction writing depicting the experience of contemporary Africa and the African diaspora in France, Mabanckou is among the most recognized Franco African writers in the Francophone sphere in contemporary literature.