Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, the Senegalese writer acclaimed from all sides
Writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, here in 2015 © Richard BOUHET / AFP
Text by: Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint
1 min
The literary awards season kicked off a few days ago with the announcement of the books competing for the prestigious awards.
This year, a writer stands out in particular because he is selected on the first list of Goncourt, Renaudot, Femina and Medici.
It is about Mohamed Mbougar Sarr whose fourth novel entitled "The most secret memory of men", published by Philippe Rey, is acclaimed on all sides.
Originally from Senegal, the 31-year-old novelist is no stranger to RFI.
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It was at the age of 23 that the voice of Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was heard for the first time on our airwaves. An author revealed thanks to the Stéphane-Hessel prizes, a news competition organized by RFI, of which the young Senegalese student in France was the winner in 2014. Since then, this son of a doctor and the eldest of a family of seven boys, born in east of Dakar, has never stopped writing and has displayed ever greater talent.
Rewarded by the Kourouma Prize and the Grand Prix du roman métis for his first novel,
Terre girdle,
in 2015, he followed up with two other equally remarkable and noticed fictions:
Silence du choir
, odyssey of immigrants, multi-award, and
Pure men.
, reflection on homosexuality in African societies. Not to mention the French Voices Grand Prize, received for the English translation of one of his books in 2018.
Today, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is more than ever under the fire of literary news with his fourth novel which is inspired by Yambo Ouologuem, the Malian writer forfeited his Renaudot prize for suspicion of plagiarism.
Ironically, this book is also in the running for the Renaudot Prize, unless the jurors of Femina, Medici or even the prestigious Goncourt decide to crown it first.
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