Abdourahman A. Waberi is¿a¿novelist, essayist, poet, and short-story writer. Born in Djibouti, he is Professor of French and Francophone literature at George Washington University. The¿author of Transit, ¿In the United States of Africa, Passage of Tears, and La Divine Chanson, he has been awarded¿the Stefan-Georg-Preis, the Grand¿Prix Litt¿ire d'Afrique noire, and the Prix biennal "Mandat pour la libert¿ He was named one of the "50 Writers of the Future" by the French literary magazine Lire.¿Dominic Thomas is Madeleine L. Letessier Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.