Edem Awumey, known to many simply as Edem, lives in Gatineau, a city in western Quebec. Born in Lomé, capital of Togo, he published his first novel, Port-Mélo, in 2006. The novel was awarded the Grand prix littéraire d’Afrique noire. His second novel, Les pieds sales (2009), published in English as Dirty Feet (House of Anansi, 2011), was nominated for the Prix Goncourt. The English translation was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2006 the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative selected Edem to be the literature protégé of Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun. His third novel, Rose déluge, was published in 2011, followed by Explication de la nuit in 2013.