Patrick Chamoiseau

Aurélie L'Hostis (Independent Scholar - Europe); Revised By: Laura Kennedy (University College Cork)

Ed. by Antonia Wimbush, University of Melbourne, Bonnie Thomas, University of Western Australia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 4.1.2: Francophone Writing and Culture of Central America and the Caribbean.
Vol. editors: Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Maeve McCusker (Queen's University Belfast), Bonnie Thomas (University of Western Australia), Antonia Wimbush (University of Melbourne)

Dates

Born 3 Dec 1953
Activity 1986-ongoing

Places

Born in Martinique
Active in France; Martinique

Cultural Identities

Caribbean/ Antillean French

Activities

Primary

Essayist
Novelist

Other

Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Patrick Chamoiseau is a major French-language writer, novelist, and theorist, predominately known for his pivotal role in the Créolité [creoleness] movement and his Prix Goncourt-winning novel Texaco (1992). The public intellectual was born on December 3, 1953, in Fort-de-France, Martinique – the former slaveholding, current overseas French Caribbean department of France – where he resides. Since beginning his writing career, Chamoiseau has been remarkably prolific, having written books of fiction and nonfiction, essays, and multiple manifestos, as well as being involved in the production of films. It is hard to overstate Chamoiseau’s monumental status on the world literary stage, his innovative style credited for continuing to “clear cobwebs from francophone writing” (Mensah 2009). He is a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres [Commander of Arts and Letters], and, alongside the prestigious Prix Goncourt, he has...

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3719 words

Citation: L'Hostis, Aurélie, Laura Kennedy. "Patrick Chamoiseau". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2011; last revised 02 June 2026. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12683, accessed 09 June 2026.]

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