👋 I'm Mose Njo. I build narrative systems—stories, languages, platforms, and worlds—rooted in Madagascar and pointed at the future.
Most of what I do orbits a character named Lisy. She started as a story. She's becoming an ecosystem.
The operational side of that work lives at Pepero—a Malagasy narrative house creating interactive experiences, creative direction, and narrative systems for brands, institutions, and cultural projects that take storytelling seriously.
Apparently, someone thought I had something to say (or to teach)—and gave me a microphone. 👇
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.
🗺️ Atlisy (formerly Lisy Atlas).
A minimalist, fast cultural and linguistic dictionary—atlas of Malagasy words, emotions, and curiosities.
Start exploring at Atlisy—search a word, follow the threads, get pleasantly lost.
🎮 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.
📚 Lamasinina (formerly 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?
Atlisy and Lamasinina are part of a non-profit cultural mission—a long-term effort to build living infrastructure for the Malagasy language, literature, and imagination. If that work speaks to you—as a funder, a partner, or a believer—the home for that conversation is The Lisy Society.
🎙️ 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, TEDx Manjakamiadana, 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 speak too much about the absence of the concept of time and how to stop time as it flew so fast. 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 with a 70+ year-old who wrote with more fire than anyone.
- I started Filmada to map Malagasy cinema with friends in the USA, China, and Madagascar. It's on pause. Not the vision—just the platform.
- 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 run Pepero—a narrative house offering creative direction, interactive experiences, and systems thinking for brands, institutions, and cultural projects. It's where the work becomes a service.
- 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 ChatGPT 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 Lamasinina. She insisted.
- I make music. Discreetly—very discreetly. I write, compose, and co-arrange under ko18. One of my songs, "ara mitsangana", carried by the fragile, luminous, and quietly moving voice of the visual artist Miangaly Elia, was nominated at the RDJ Awards, Madagascar's major music awards. My dream is to go further: a musical has taken its first small step at the IFM Lab of the Institut Français de Madagascar—still only a beginning, with many paths ahead—and perhaps one day a studio, something between A24 and Ghibli, rooted in Madagascar.
Sinon, je flâne. The stories tend to follow. (Look up Baudelaire if you're wondering.)
If something here made you think this is the kind of mind I need in the room—that conversation starts at pepero.org.
If something here made you think this cultural work deserves to exist and grow—that conversation starts at lisysociety.org.
