Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins the Goncourt Prize with his novel "The most secret memory of men"

Senegalese writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, in Paris, September 17, 2021 © AFP - JOEL SAGET

Text by: Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint

1 min

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr received the Goncourt Prize this Wednesday, November 3, 2021.

At the age of 31, he was rewarded for his fourth novel entitled

, published by Philippe Rey editions, in co-edition with the Jimsaan house in Senegal.

An author that we have followed since his beginnings at RFI. 

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This grand prize for Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is of course a crowning achievement for this young 31-year-old writer and at the same time an evidence and confirmation of a talent long spotted.

It is indeed within the walls of RFI, in 2014, that the author was rewarded for the first time by winning the Stéphane Hessel short story competition organized by RFI.

Then, this son of a doctor and the eldest of a family of seven boys, born east of Dakar, never ceased to show the extent of his pen.

Awarded for his three previous novels, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr reached with

 a peak in the art of writing since in a broad, ambitious fiction where several literary genres take turns, he poses the major question of writing.

Why, how, and for whom do we write?

From the African continent to Europe, via South America, the novelist succeeds in embracing all the writers dear to his heart, starting with Yambo Ouologuem, a Malian author.

An inventive, demanding, provocative book, a masterful book that will stand out. 

► Listen to the interview given by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr in August 2021:

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