🇬🇦GabonCentral Africa
Éric Joël Békalé releases "Le voleur de rêves II," a collection of nine tales exploring Gabonese mythology
via Gabon Review2 min read
Twenty years after his first collection, Éric Joël Békalé has released "Le voleur de rêves II" through LAHA editions. This work features nine dense tales, presented with elegant prose and a strong sense of local tradition, blending ancestral heritage with literary artistry. The book draws readers into its narratives, such as "L’enfant du lac," which tells the story of Ekome-Avome in the village of Aboumzok, whose destiny changes after a nganga prescribes a herbal mixture. Békalé explores Gabonese mythological traditions, from the issiki to the Komo River, using terms like Iboga, Mvett, Mekaga, Issiki, and Malamba, which are integral to a worldview where the invisible is as real as the tangible. The final tale, "C’est la fin qui compte," set in Nzamaligué, depicts a rivalry between two brothers, Ayeme-Nzame and Abene-Nzame, which is resolved by nature itself when the Komo River floods. Notably, Békalé also illustrated the book with expressive drawings that enhance the text. Éric Joël Békalé, an itinerant ambassador for cultural diplomacy, re-elected president of UDEG, and vice-president of PAWA for Central Africa, is a statesman and a man of letters with around thirty published works. "Le voleur de rêves II" is 106 pages long and is available in Libreville bookstores.
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