Born in Togo and educated in France, he has lived in Gatineau, Quebec since 2005. His third novel, Rose déluge, was published in 2011, and his fourth, Explication de la nuit, was published in 2013. He is also the author of Tierno Monénembo: le roman de l"exil, a critical study of the work of Tierno Monénembo.
His debut novel Portuguese-Mélo won the Grand prix littéraire d"Afrique noire in 2006, and his second novel Les Pied sales was a shortlisted nominee for the Prix Goncourt in 2009. Dirty Feet, an English translation of Les Pieds sales by Lazer Lederhendler, was also a shortlisted nominee for the 2011 Governor General"s Award for French to English translation and the 2012 ReLit Award for fiction.
