Mama publishes 3 books in 1 year

A professor in the Department of English at Eastern Connecticut State University has made an inter-continental impact on the world of oral literature through his books. While he primarily writes in English and French, Raouf Mama has also established himself as the only author in the world today who tells folktales from his native Benin and other parts of the world in Benin’s native languages of Fon and Yoruba.

His research work as a storyteller yielded three books last year — “The Perforated Jar,” published in English by Laha Editions; “Je Devine le Monde/I Riddle the World,” published in French and English by Laha Editions; and “Les Gardiens Du Temple De La Parole,” published in French by BeninLivres. 

‘The Perforated Jar’  

Mama was awarded the Grand Prix Litteraire du Benin (Benin’s equivalent of the National Book Award in the United States) in 2021 for “La Jarre Trouée,” an illustrated retelling in French of a historical tale from the former kingdom of Dahomey.  “The Perforated Jar,” his English translation of the book, was published by Laha Editions in 2025.  

Mama’s book tells the story of King Ghezo, who used a jar riddled with holes to teach his people about unity and social harmony at a time when the survival of the kingdom was threatened by discord and internecine quarrels.    

“King Ghezo saw his people fighting, and it saddened him greatly, so he produced a jar covered with holes and asked his people to plug the holes with their fingers,” Mama said. “Then, he poured water into the jar, and not a single drop leaked out.  

“‘Behold, our motherland is like a jar with holes,’ King Ghezo said. ‘Unless we stand together to plug its holes, it cannot hold the water of life.’”  

Mama went on to explain that he intended the book not only as an homage to Dahomey’s wisest king, but chiefly as a personal tribute to his stepfather, the late Ghezodje Pascal, a descendant of King Ghezo. 

“He was the kindest man I ever knew, the most generous stepfather I ever had,” said Mama. “He died quite suddenly when I was barely 25. This book is a way to honor him and the king who left the lesson of the perforated jar as part of his legacy.”  

‘I Riddle the World/Je Devine Le Monde’ 

This bilingual book comprises 259 African riddles translated into French and English. Published in 2025 by BeninLivres, it is the first bilingual collection of Beninese riddles to be published anywhere in the world. Riddles serve to foster mental agility and capacity for reflection and observation. Equally important, they help to stimulate creative and critical thinking skills 

“Riddles have great potential as engines of verbal communication,” Mama said.  “In Africa, they are the palm oil with which the yams of stories are eaten. This book is an attempt to draw attention to this very powerful and, alas,long-neglected multicultural teaching tool.”

‘Les Gardiens Du Temple De La Parole (The Keepers of the Temple of the Word)’  

Having won the Grand Prix Littéraire du Bénin in 2021, Mama delivered the traditional keynote address, “Le Grand Oral,” a year later at the national library in Benin. In his speech, Mama paid tribute to his teachers, including his biological mother and his adoptive mother, whom he praised as his first and greatest teachers.   

Mama then lamented the plight of teachers in Benin, whom he argued are severely underpaid, and called on the powers-that-be to improve the living conditions of all teachers, whom he called “the builders of the future.”   

Finally, he paid homage to Benin’s writers, whom he celebrated as the sensitive point of the nation’s conscience and honored for their unique contributions to African literature in particular and world literature in general. In “Les Gardiens Du Temple De La Parole,” he weaved into his keynote address poetry and a song in Fon, one of his two mother tongues.