Award-winning author: Mabanckou won the 2015 French Voices Grand Prize and was a finalist for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize. International voice: Mabanckou is regarded as Francophone Africa's leading novelist. He is a professor at UCLA and has commented in the U.S. press on issues of race and immigration in Europe. Strong social media platform: Mabanckou has 8,600+ followers on Twitter, and he has a dedicated author website. Prolific public speaker: Mabanckou has spoken at PEN World Voices in New York and recently participated in a three-day conference in honor of his work at the University of Oklahoma. Review attention: Published as Petit Piment in France, where it was a bestseller, critically acclaimed, and nominated for the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens.