SmokeLong Quarterly

Timba Bema est né à Douala, Cameroun. Il grandit dans un environnement peuplé d’artistes. Le chanteur et pianiste Eko Roosevelt est son voisin. Il croise de temps en temps, passant dans la rue, Yves Lobé, le batteur des Black Styl’s, la chanteuse Beti Beti et sa soeur Annie Disco, sans oublier Villavienne, célèbre pour ses duos avec Ebanda. Bien que passionné par la musique, il s’oriente vers la littérature et commence par écrire des poèmes. Mais, c’est lecture de Le procès de Frantz Kafka qui le convainc que sa vocation est d’écrire. Alors il se rapproche des poètes Valère Epée et Fernando D’Almeida pour apprendre. Après son baccalauréat il étudie l’Economie à Yaoundé, où il côtoie le romancier Severin Cécile Abéga. En 2001, il poursuit ses études à Nantes. Depuis 2007 il vit et travaille à Lausanne. Il est auteur de poésie, de nouvelles et de romans.

Timba Bema was born in Douala, Cameroon. He grew up surrounded by artists, including the singer and pianist Eko Roosevelt who was his neighbor. Walking down the street, he sometimes ran into Yves Lobé, the drummer from the Black Styl’s, the singer Beti Beti and her sister Annie Disco, and not least of all, Villa Vienne, famous for her duets with Ebanda. Although a passionate fan of music, he turned to literature and began writing poems. But it was reading Franz Kafka’s The Trial that convinced him his vocation was to be a writer. He then moved toward the poets Valère Epée and Fernando d’Almeida in order to learn. Following his Bachelor’s degree, he studied Economics in Yaoundé, where he spent time with the novelist Severin Cécile Abéga. In 2001, he continued his studies in Nantes, France. Since 2007 he has lived and worked in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is the author of poetry, short stories and novels.

Stories in Smokelong Quarterly

Story: Accident
Interview: Smoke and Mirrors: An Interview with Timba Bema