Raouf Mama

Biography

Dr. Mama is an award-winning storyteller and best-selling author, the only one in the world today who tells in English, French, Yoruba and Fon, traditional folktales from his Native Benin and other parts of the world.

Research Interests

• African Literature
• The Beninese and African Folktale Traditions
• Images of Africa and Africans in Western Literature

Of Note

Mama was interviewed on NPR on his Memoir Fortune's Favored Child. He is the 2019 winner of Benin National Teachers of English Association's Award for Outstanding Storytelling and Service to TESOL (Teaching of English To Speakers of Other Languages).

Teaching Interests

• African Literature
• Storytelling and Public Speaking
• Translation (French-English; English-French)

Publications

Pourquoi Le Bouc Sent Mauvais (French Version of Why Goats Smell Bad), Bestseller, 2015 Editions Laha;

Fortune's Favored Child, 2014 (Northwestern University Press)

Why Monkeys Live in Trees, 2006, Curbstone Press (2008 Winner of The National Multicultural Children's Book Award

Tropical Tales, 2001. Barefoot Books

Pearls of Wisdom, 2000. Prolingua Associates