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BIO

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Jane Labous is an award-winning author, journalist and broadcaster. Her debut novel, The Chameleon Girl, was published in Nigeria by Farafina Books in 2022.

 

Jane read French and English at Oxford University (Jesus College) before spending nearly two decades working as a foreign correspondent for international press and INGOs, most often out of Senegal, West Africa. 

Jane is known for her frontline coverage of human rights and gender issues, always telling the powerful human stories behind the social, humanitarian and political issues in the news. This while developing her creative art as a writer, filmmaker and novelist, drawing on her insider knowledge of the aid sector and foreign journalism, and her unique experience of both expat and family life in Ngor, Senegal.

 

Jane's work has appeared in The Independent, The Times, The LA Times and BBC News Online and many other publications, as well as regularly on BBC Africa, Voice of America and BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent. She has won the BBC Radio 4 and Royal Geographical Society Documentary Award, the Merck More than a Mother Media Recognition & Film Award for Francophone African Countries, and a European Journalism Centre Development Reporting Grant. Her fiction has been longlisted for the Bath Novel Prize and the Santa Fé Writers' Project Literary Award. 

 

As a devoted single parent, Jane often writes stories, characters and locations to honour her wonderful daughter, who is half-Senegalese, reflecting their own diverse family experience. 

 

Jane's latest novel, Past Participle, will be published in May 2023, by Afsana Press.

Training

Hostile Environments & Emergency First Aid  


International Location Safety

Child Protection In Emergencies


Plan International

photo credit: Doriana Re

Hostile Environments & Emergency First Aid  


Centurion

MA Hons in English and Modern Languages (French)


Jesus College, University of Oxford

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Awards

Santa Fe Writers' Project Literary Award, Longlisted


2022

Bath Novel Prize, Longlisted


2022

Fiction Factory First Chapter Competition, Longlisted


2021

“Merck More than a Mother” ‘Media Recognition & Film Award winner 2019, in ‘Film Category’ for French-Speaking African Countries, for Angels

2020

You Are Not Alone (2019) toured the film festival circuit between 2019 and 2021


2019 - 2021

BEST DOCUMENTARY - Southampton Film Week
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Worldwide Womens Fi
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Southampton Film We
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Evolution Mallorca
SEMI-FINALIST - Dumbo Film Festival - 20
OFFICIALSELECTION-Saint-PetersburgIntern

European Journalism Centre Development Reporting Grant of E19,000


2018

BBC Radio 4 & Royal Geographical Society Documentary 'Journey of a Lifetime' Award


2011

Cinderellas documentary long-listed for One World Media Award


2016 

Guardian Development Journalism Prize Winner


2009

St Lucia Travel Awards, Travel Writer of The Year


2007

OFFICIAL SELECTION - Mediterranean Film
OFFICIAL SELECTION - West African Film F

Member of The Society of Authors


2022

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