Anne Cheynet (born 1938) is a French author in Réunion. Her 1977 work Les Muselés is considered a significant contribution to Réunionnais literature, as the first novel to be formally labeled as "Réunionnais." [1]
Cheynet was born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, in 1938, and spent her childhood in the city's Saint-François neighborhood. [2] She traveled to Aix-en-Provence to study in 1956, remaining abroad until 1963. [3]
Back on the island, she worked as a secondary school teacher before getting involved in politics. She later returned to the classroom as a preschool teacher. [3]
She published her first book, the poetry collection Matanans et Langoutis, in 1972, followed by her best-known work, the novel Les Muselés, which is considered the first work billed as a "Réunionnais novel." [1] [2] The novel, which has an activist slant, focuses on the lives of the poor in Réunion. [4] Cheynet, who was from a poor white family, drew on her experiences of discrimination during the island's colonial era. [2]
Cheynet has since published several other books, including the poetry collection Ter tout' kouler and the short story collection Rivages maouls. [3] In 2022, she released a bilingual story collection illustrated by Claire Ruiz, La clé dans zot poche: Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier. [5]
Between 2001 and 2004, Cheynet produced three CDs of oral storytelling. [3]
She writes in both French and Creole. [3]
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)