Tram 83, by Fiston Mwanza Mujilla

WE'VE ALREADY HAD ENOUGH OF SQUALOR, POVERTY, SYPHILIS, AND VIOLENCE IN AFRICAN LITERATURE. LOOK AROUND US. THERE ARE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS, GOOD-LOOKING MEN, BRAZZA BEER, GOOD MUSIC. DOESN'T ALL THAT INSPIRE YOU?

In a war-torn African city-state tourists of languages and nationalities converge with students, ex-pats and locals. They have only one desire: to make a fortune by exploiting the wealth of the country, both mineral and human. As soon as night falls, they go to get drunk, dance, eat and abandon themselves in Tram 83, the only night-club of the city, the den of all iniquities.

Lucien, a professional writer, fleeing the exactions and the censorship of the Back-Country finds refuge in the city thanks to Requiem, a friend. Requiem livesLucien, a professional writer, fleeing the exactions and the censorship of the Back-Country finds refuge in the city thanks to Requiem, a friend. Requiem lives mainly by theft and swindle while Lucien only thinks of writing and living honestly. Around them gravitate gangsters and young girls, retired or runaway men, profit-seeking tourists and federal agents of a non-existent State.

Tram 83 plunges the reader into the atmosphere of a gold rush as cynical as it is comic and colourfully exotic. It's an observation of human relationships in a world that has become a global village, it's an African-rhapsody, hammered by rhythms of jazz.