Photo: Thibaut De Corday / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Scholastique Mukasonga is, to me, one of those writers whose work feels less like literature and more like an act of remembrance. Born in Rwanda's former Gikongoro province and later writing in France, she turned unbearable history into prose of real beauty, earning the Prix Renaudot and the Simone de Beauvoir Prize along the way. What moves me is the moral weight of her project: refusing to let the lost be forgotten. Books like Our Lady of the Nile and The Barefoot Woman carry a responsibility most fiction never attempts. I hold deep admiration for the courage that kind of writing demands.
Overview
Scholastique Mukasonga (born 1956) is a French-Rwandan author born in the former Gikongoro province of Rwanda. In 2012, she won the prix Renaudot and the prix Ahmadou-Kourouma for her book Our Lady of the Nile. In addition to being a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Mukasonga was rewarded in 2014 with the Seligmann Prize against racism and intolerance and in 2…
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Scholastique Mukasonga
- Name (Japanese)
- ショラスティック・ムカソンガ
- Reading
- しょらすてぃっく・むかそんが
- Born
- December 20, 1956 (age 69)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Monkey
- Origin
- Gikongoro Province, Rwanda
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
- 2011 Paul-Bourdarie prize
- 2012 Prix Renaudot
- 2012 Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma
- 2021 Simone de Beauvoir Prize
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Our Lady of the Nile | — | |
| Notable work | The Barefoot Woman | — |
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.scholastiquemukasonga.com
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/scholastiquemukaso/
- Xhttps://x.com/Mukasonga
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B3%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A0%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.