<ench Professor Cherif Keita has published a new book.
Titled Outcast to Ambassador: The Musical Odyssey of Salif Keita, Professor Keita’s book treats the life of the Grammy-nominated musician, who was also his cousin and childhood friend.
Salif Keita was shunned as a youth in Mali for being an albino and for challenging social taboos about professional musicianship. Salif is widely viewed as one of Africa’s most prominent musicians on the world stage.
“In short,” Keita said in an e-mail, “this book deals with the affirmation of an extraordinary artistic identity in the heart of Mali and on the World-Music stage.”
Keita is the Director of French and Francophone Studies at Carleton and leads the Francophone off-campus studies program to Mali every other year. He has published numerous books and articles on both social and literary problems in modern Africa. He also recently produced a documentary film entitled Oberlin-Inanda: The Life and Times of John L. Dube.
If interested in Professor Keita’s most recent work, please feel free to contact him at [email protected].