Tanella Suzanne Boni was born in 1954. She is a poet and novelist from Ivory Coast. She is also a professor of philosophy at the University of Abidjan. In addition to teaching and research, she served as president of the writers' association in Ivory Coast from 1991 to 1997. Later, she organized the International Poetry Festival in Abidjan from 1998 to 2002.

Biography

Tanella Boni was born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, where she completed high school before continuing her education at university in Toulouse, France, and at the University of Paris, where she earned a PhD. She later became a professor of Philosophy at the University of Cocody-Abidjan (now known as the University of Félix Houphouët-Boigny). She also wrote poetry, novels, short stories, literary criticism, and books for children.

From 1991 to 1997, she led the Writers' Association of Côte d'Ivoire. She organized Abidjan's International Poetry Festival from 1998 to 2002. During the political conflicts in Côte d'Ivoire between 2002 and 2011, she left her home country and lived in France. In 2005, she received the Ahmadou Kourouma Prize for her novel Matins de couvre-feu (Mornings after curfew). In 2009, she won the Antonio Viccaro International Poetry Prize. Since 2013, she has split her time between Abidjan and Paris.

She contributed writings to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.