👋 I'm Mose Njo—but these days, I mostly speak on behalf of someone named Lisy. She started as a story. Now she's about to start a universe.
Apparently, someone thought I had something to say (or to teach)—and gave me a microphone. 👇
If you'd like me to speak 🎙️ at your thing—serious or slightly absurd—please, feel free to reach out by clicking 👉 this. 📨
I once represented Madagascar as a writer at the Francophonie Games in Abidjan.
It was the same year Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was there. He won the Goncourt. I won some hearts and got sunburned.
I was awarded a scholarship to study at AoTR, the film school in Berlin.
I went. I learned. I wrote odd things.
I've recently found myself entangled in a number of curious ventures. Some are discreet. Some have already collapsed in dramatic fashion. Some involve video games. One involves a girl named Lisy—who now insists on being everywhere.
✨ A discreet launch.
I'm not at liberty to say much about this.
Just know that something small, strange, and quietly useful has been released into the world. Please don't tell anyone.
🎮 Lisy's Dream.
A video game about a girl with a secret and a world with too many doors.
The first demo was shown publicly at the Video Game Developers Festival at the French Institute of Madagascar, which seems like a mistake—but a delightful one.
📚 Lisy 1817.
A reading and listening platform for stories in Malagasy and French.
If you enjoy tales, voices, and odd little adventures, you'll feel right at home. If not—why are you still reading?
🎙️ Two voices, a man and a woman, fourteen minutes, one persistent question: who exactly is Mose Njo— and is he really in charge, or is it Lisy?
Things I've done, attempted, or somehow gotten away with:
- I've given talks at Duke, Johns Hopkins, Université de Lyon, ISCAM Business School in Madagascar, and the National Library of Abidjan. Sometimes people even stayed for the Q&A.
- I've shared panels and conference tables with writers like Karan Mahajan, Abhay Kumar, Francesca Mari, Nina Leger, Pierre Ducrozet, and Ilija Trojanow. On stage, I tried not to dwell on the absence of the concept of time. I failed.
- I won an Honorable Mention for a short story in the Africa@2050 Climate Fiction Competition. I like to say I came in first—from the last. (Also: the only non-native English speaker. Just saying.)
- I received a scholarship to study independent cinema at the Art-on-the-Run Film School in Berlin. I never ran. Not even once. But God, did I walk.
- I published Lisy Mianjoria, a sci-fi novel in Malagasy. It's still selling, still finding readers, and still sending me lovely messages.
- I was published in Europunk, a French sci-fi anthology from Realities Inc. Yes, it's as punk as it sounds.
- I represented Madagascar at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Abidjan. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was there too. He won the Goncourt. I didn't. And I won't.
- I wrote and directed a short film for the social enterprise Le Relais, created by Abbé Pierre. (The double B in Abbé isn't what you think.)
- I've ghostwritten scripts for feature films and multi-season series in Europe. You've probably seen something I've written—you just didn't know it. Just kidding.
- I translated Roberto Zucco into Malagasy. It's a play that doesn't ask politely.
- I translated 100 Great Indian Poems into Malagasy and French. I also translated The Magic of Madagascar by H.E. Abhay K., the Indian Ambassador to Madagascar. I like to mention it when I want to sound impressive.
- I've been translated into Romanian (Convorbiri Literare), German (LCB Diplomatique), and likely misquoted in a few other languages.
- I was a jury member for Diary Nofy, a project creating storybooks for Malagasy children and spreading a love of reading.
- I created an installation for La Nuit Malgache at the Institut Français de Madagascar and exhibited a conceptual artwork at Hakanto Contemporary in Antananarivo.
- I've taught creative writing to children, teens, and one memorable group of with a 70+ year-old who wrote with more fire than anyone.
- I've been published (twice) in Future Science Fiction Digest, with both stories translated by Allison M. Charette.
- I've been selected for the Lunar Codex—which means my work is literally headed to the Moon. (That sentence still surprises me.)
- I also run a startup called Pepero, which operates discreetly. Possibly too discreetly.
- I helped draft the Charte de la professionnalisation du livre—a document meant to help shape the future of Madagascar's book industry. I was there as a writer. And possibly as someone who asks too many questions.
- I didn't mean to join the coordination team of that WordPress-in-Malagasy thing as the "translation supervisor" or whatever they call it—I just showed up, asked too many questions, and they gave me a role. Now I help localize WordPress in Malagasy and pretend I know what I'm doing. (It's going surprisingly well.)
- According to GPT-4o and Perplexity, I'm a "Madagascan Renaissance Man." Google Gemini disagrees. But you know how Gemini is.
- I've been counseling an interior design agency. Such a refreshing experience. And sometimes, they even listen.
- I once built a platform for books and audiobooks with a bilingual dictionary, entirely on my own. It didn't work out. I'm rebuilding it anyway. Right now—it's called Lisy 1817. She insisted.
Sinon, je flâne. The stories tend to follow. (Look up Baudelaire if you're wondering)
