Books by David Diop
David Diop is a French author who grew up in Senegal. He is a professor of 18th-century literature at the University of Pau.
Beyond the Door of No Return
by David Diop
Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop is a historical novel that opens in France, but is set mainly in 18th-century Senegal, at the height of the slave trade. It's the story of a French botanist, Michel Adanson, and what befell him after going to the island of Saint-Louis in Senegal. As he writes to his daughter, "Things did not go the way I planned. I made the voyage to Senegal to discover plants, and instead I encountered people."
Diop won the International Booker Prize in 2021 for his work of historical fiction set in World War I, At Night All Blood Is Black.
At Night All Blood Is Black
by David Diop, translated by Anna Moschovakis
🏆 Winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize
“The premise is that this soldier becomes very murderous at the Front, and starts doing things like cutting off hands in no-man’s-land and bringing them back. At first his white superiors are like: great, we need murderous soldiers. But the more he turns into a serial killer, the more uncomfortable his superiors get. It almost reads like a horror film. It’s very psychological. So it’s a very finely crafted book, beautifully woven together, and interesting from a genre perspective.” Read more...
The Best First World War Novels
Alice Winn, Novelist
Interviews where books by David Diop were recommended
The Best First World War Novels, recommended by Alice Winn
There are dozens of novels about the First World War, many of them well worth your time. Here, Alice Winn—author of In Memoriam, a bestselling story of forbidden love between two young soldiers—selects five of the very best, including autobiographical fiction by former officers and historical novels that bring humanity to the horror of the Great War.
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1
At Night All Blood Is Black
by David Diop, translated by Anna Moschovakis -
2
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories
by Mariana EnrĂquez, translated by Megan McDowell -
3
When We Cease to Understand the World
by Benjamin Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West -
4
The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century
by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken -
5
In Memory of Memory
by Maria Stepanova, by Sasha Dugdale -
6
The War of the Poor
by Éric Vuillard, translated by Mark Polizzotti
The Best of World Literature: The 2021 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
The Best of World Literature: The 2021 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Every year the International Booker Prize judges read dozens of novels from around the world, which are newly translated into English. Here Lucy Hughes-Hallett—award-winning author and chair of this year’s judging panel—talks us through the six books that made their 2021 shortlist of the best world literature.
