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Chamoiseau was born on December 3, 1953 in Fort-de-France, Martinique, where he currently resides. After he studied law in Paris he returned to Martinique inspired by Édouard Glissant to take a close interest in Creole culture. Chamoiseau is the author of a historical work on the Antilles under the reign of Napoléon Bonaparte and several non-fiction books which include Éloge de la créolité (In Praise of Creoleness), co-authored with Jean Bernabé and Raphaël Confiant.Awarded the Prix Carbet (I990) for Chemins d’enfance. His novel Texaco was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1992, and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

Chamoiseau may also safely be considered as one of the most innovative writers to hit the French literary scene since Louis-Ferdinand Céline. His freeform use of French language ... a highly complex yet fluid mixture of constant invention and "creolism" ... fuels a poignant and sensuous depiction of Martinique people in particular and humanity at large.

Novels

• Chronique des sept misères (1986)
• Solibo magnifique (1988)
• Antan d'enfance (1990).
• Texaco (1992)
• Chemin d'école (1994). (published in English under the title "School Days")
• L'Esclave vieil homme et le molosse(1997)
• Biblique des derniers gestes (2002)
• À Bout d'enfance (2005)
• Un dimanche au cachot (2007)
• Les Neuf Consciences du malfini (2009)

Antan d'enfance, Chemin d'école and À Bout d'enfance form the autobiographical trilogy: Une enfance Créole.

Plays

• Manman Dlo contre la fée Carabosse (1982)

Films

• l'Exil du roi Behanzin (1994)
• Le Passage du Milieu (2000)
• Biguine (2004)
• Nord Plage (2004)
• Aliker (2007)

Comics

• "Monsieur Coutcha", under the name "Abel", with Tony DELSHAM (one of the first caribbean cartoons, published during the 1970).
• Encyclomerveille d'un tueur 1. L'Orphelin de Cocoyer Grands-Bois (2009)

Children's literature

• Emerveilles (1998)

Essays

• "Éloge de la créolité" (with Jean Bernabé et Raphaël Confiant) (1989)
• "Lettres créoles. Tracées antillaises et continentales de la littérature" (with Raphaël Confiant) (1991)
• "Martinique" (with V. Renaudeau) (1994)
• "Guyane: Traces-Mémoires du bagne" (1994)
• "Ecrire en pays dominé" (1997)
• "Elmire des sept bonheurs: confidences d'un vieux travailleur de la distillerie Saint-Etienne" (1998)