279pp., maps, paperback, First English Language Edition, Deep Vellum Publishing, Dallas, 2024

ISBN: 9781646051274

Originally published in 2020 in French as La dans vilain.

Novel set in the late 1990s, as the Mobutu regime crumbles in Zaire.

"The Villain’s Dance is a vivid, expansive dual narrative set against the backdrop of Mobutu’s rule in 1990's Zaire - known today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo - and the civil war in Angola. A gorgeous feat of magical realism, intricately infused with stylized prose reminiscent of jazz, this is a tale of darkness, of class and struggle, of light. Roland Glasser’s translation brings Mujila’s words and dynamic cast of characters to life with a flourish." National Book Award judges' citation

Fiston Mwanza Mujila was born in 1981 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and lives in Austria. His debut novel, Tram 83 (published in English in 2015) won the Etisalat Prize for Literature and the German International Literature Award. He is also the author of the poetry collections, The River in the Belly (published in English in 2021), Craquelures (2011) and Soleil privé de mazout (2016), as well as three plays.

THE VILLAIN'S DANCE. translated from the French by Roland Glasser

: Mujila (F.)

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