GUINEA WRITER SEES DEBUT NOVEL IN PRINT

FATOUMATA KOULIBALY, author, activist, and trainee beauty therapist will soon see her self-published novel, Never Ask Me about my Family, sold in Waterstones and WH Smith book stores. Ms. Koulibaly is originally from Guinea, one of West Africa's poorest countries. Her novel is written from the viewpoint of a young girl, Aida, and her mother, Salimatou, who struggle to take control of their lives while her father, Sekouba, who is a government official, is jailed for treason.

Fatoumata is a member of La Fraternite Guinéene, which has been involved in protests against the totalitarian dictator Lansana Conte, who has recently imposed martial law in the country. Ms. Koulibaly began the novel in 2003, taking the different life experiences of almost everyone she knew and fusing them into a central character.

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