Aya de Youpougon is a critically acclaimed graphic novel series by Marguerite Abouet. Abouet was born in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, many of the themes in Aya chronicle her childhood memories of a proposers and promising Ivory Coast in the 1970′s. Perhaps the reason why Aya has captured the attention of readars across the globe is that the comic presents a different sort of Africa, one that illustrates daily life outside of the typical war, famine and disease narrative. Due to popular demand Aya de Youpougon will be gracing the screens this year in a feature length animated film.
“Welcome to Yopougon, a working-class neighborhood of Abidjan in the late 70s, renamed Yop City – to sound like an American movie ! This is home to Aya and her two friends, Adjoua and Bintou. The’re 19-years-old, a time in your life when everything seems possible. But while Aya would like to become a doctor one day, her friends are more into nightclubbing at the local “maquis” and hunting for a husband. Around this dynamic trio, we cross characters with diverse destinies like Ignace, Aya’s runaround father who juggles several “offices”, and Moussa, the son of the powerful Bonaventure Sissoko who counts on his Toyota to pick up girls. There’s also Fanta and Koro, the mothers who try to protect their daughters. Or Grégoire, the “Parisian” who blows his cash at the famous hotel Ivoire. A true chorale comedy, Aya of Yop City is a chronicle of an unexpected Africa, modern and urban.”
