Jean-Claude Awono

Jean-Claude Awono is a Cameroonian poet, literary critic, editor, publisher, and educator. He is known for his numerous organisations of the ifrikiya events.

Early life and Education Jean-Claude Awono was born on 31 May 1969 at Sa'a in Cameroun. In the mid-1990s, Jean-Claude Awono became part of a new wave of Cameroonian cultural figures working to reshape the country’s literary landscape. In 1996, he co-founded the association "La Ronde des poètes" in Yaoundé alongside several young writers, including Germain Djel and John Francis Shady Eoné, with the aim of promoting contemporary poetry and giving emerging authors a platform to express themselves. Under his leadership, the association organized literary cafés, poetry readings, and cultural activities in schools, while also launching the journal Le Rondin, dedicated to sharing and critically engaging with contemporary literary works. At the same time, he contributed to the cultural journal Patrimoine, joining its editorial board alongside a number of Cameroonian scholars and intellectuals .

Career Jean-Claude Awono became involved in independent publishing by creating La Ronde, a press focused on poetry collections and dramatic works. He also founded and directed , a Cameroonian literary journal devoted to poetry, literature, and cultural criticism. .

Works Within this association, several initiatives emerged under his guidance, including Hiototi, a Cameroonian journal dedicated to poetry, literature, and culture, the Cameroonian Observatory of Culture, the Francis Bebey Cultural Center, and the Seven Hills Poetry Festival of Yaoundé. A literary critic and columnist, he is currently the director of Ifrikiya Editions, established in 2007 through the merger of three small Cameroonian publishing houses.

He has taken part in poetry festivals across Africa, Europe, and China. In 2011, he was awarded the Bretagne-Réunie International Poetry Prize in France. His poems, many of which have appeared in international anthologies, have been translated into several languages, including Romanian, English, Breton, and others.

Awards In 2020, Awono received the Fernando D'Almeida International Poetry Prize, awarded to a Francophone African poet for contributions to poetry and literary mentorship in Africa.

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