Sony Lab'ou Tansi

Sony Lab'ou Tansi
BornMarcel Ntsoni
(1947-07-05)5 July 1947
Kimwaanza, Belgian Congo
Died14 June 1995(1995-06-14) (aged 47)
Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
OccupationPlaywright, Novelist, Screenwriter
LanguageFrench
NationalityCongolese
Literary movementNew African Literature
Notable worksLife and a Half
Parentheses of Blood
The Antipeople
The Seven Solitudes of Lorsa Lopez
Notable awards• Concours Théâtral Interafricain de Radio-France Internationale (1979)
Grand Prix Littéraire d'Afrique Noire (1983)
• Palme de la Francophonie (1985)
• Ibsen Foundation Prize (1988)

Sony Lab'ou Tansi (5 July 1947 – 14 June 1995), born Marcel Ntsoni, was a Congolese novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and poet in French language. Though he was only 47 when he died, Tansi remains one of the most prolific African writers and the most internationally renowned practitioner of the "New African Writing." His novel The Antipeople won the Grand Prix Littéraire d'Afrique Noire. In his later years, he ran a theatrical company in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo.