Patrice Kayo

The author of novels, children’s books, and criticism, Patrice Kayo was born in Bandjoun, Cameroon. He earned a BA and an MA in education from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon and a PhD from the Université Paris-Sorbonne. He was chairman of the National Association of Poets and Writers of Cameroon from 1969 to 1981 and one of the founders of the International Federation of French-Speaking Writers.

He is the coauthor of Les Proverbes Bamiléké (1970) and the author of Anthologie de la Poésie Camerounaise de Langue Française (1978) and Chansons Populaires Bamilékés (1983) as well as the critical study Panorama de la Littérature Camerounaise (1978). His collections of poetry include Hymnes et Sagesse (1970), Paroles Intimes (1972), and En Attendant l’Aurore (1988).

Kayo’s poems in English translation have been published in The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry (1998).