a novel. Inspired by his experience working in the village of fishers in Diamant, Zobel wrote Diab’-là in 1942. It was a story about a peasant who decided to win his freedom by working the land near a community of fishermen. When Zobel first wanted to publish the novel, Martinique was governed by Admiral Robert, an authoritarian representative of the Vichy government, delaying publication until 1947. Time in France and literary career In 1946, Zobel took advantage of his administrative leave and went to Paris to continue his studies. In Sorbonne, he took courses in literature, dramatic art, and ethnology. Additionally, he earned a position as an assistant professor at the Lycée International François-Ier in Fontainebleau. Settled in this city with his wife and three children, Zobel devoted the 1950s to intense literary activity and writing. He published numerous novels such as Les Jours Immobiles and La Fête à Paris. He also wrote many poems which he recited at various festivals in France, Switzerland, and Italy. Most notably, in 1950, Zobel published one of his principle works, La Rue Cases-Nègres, a story greatly influenced by his childhood and time in Martinique. The story recounts a child, without much experience in the world, and a grandmother, who is experienced but softens her perspective of the world, resulting in a rare testimony to the West Indian Black community at the time. The Éditions Albin Michel refused to publish the text because of the Creole-inspired phrases. It was Alioune Diop who finally published La Rue Cases-Nègres in his newly created publishing house and magazine, Présence Africaine. The novel proceeded to go down in history in France and in the African continent. Time in Africa In 1957, Zobel, driven by his desire to know Africa, used his relationships with some Senegalese friends in Paris to find a way into the continent. He was recruited to become a college director by the Senegalese Minister of Education, Amadou Matar M’bow, as a college director at school of Ziguinchor (at present the Lycée Djignabo) in Casamance. After a few years as a general supervisor of the Van Vollenhoven school in Dakar, he became a producer of educational and cultural programs at the Radio of Senegal. His programs were heard throughout French-speaking West Africa. Some anecdotes of his experiences in Dakar are recounted in the collections of short stories Mas Badara (1983) and Et si la mer n’était