Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, winner of the 2021 Goncourt Prize

Audio 29:00

Writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr in studio at RFI (August 2021) © Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint / RFI

By: Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint

8 mins

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, born in Senegal in 1990, revealed by the RFI “Stéphane Hessel for Young Francophone Writing” prize in 1994, lives in France and is the author of: “Terre ceinte” (2015, Ahmadou-Kourouma prize and Grand Prix du roman métis), “Silence of the choir” (2017, Literature-World prize - Amazing Voyageurs 2018) and “De pure hommes” (Philippe Rey / Jimsaan, 2018).

He has just won the Prix Goncourt for his novel "The most secret memory of men" (Philippe Rey / Jimsaan) (Rediffusion)

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The most secret memory of men © Philippe Rey / Jimsaan

“In 2018, Diégane Latyr Faye, a young Senegalese writer, discovered in Paris a mythical book, published in 1938: The labyrinth of the inhuman. the scandal triggered by the publication of his text. Diégane then sets out, fascinated, on the trail of the mysterious TC Elimane, confronting the great tragedies of colonialism or the Holocaust. From Senegal to France via Argentina , what truth awaits him in the center of this labyrinth? 

Without ever losing the thread of this quest which monopolizes him, Diégane, in Paris, frequents a group of young African authors: all observe each other, discuss, drink, make love a lot, and wonder about the need for it. creation from exile.

He will especially focus on two women: the sulphurous Siga, keeper of secrets, and the fleeting photojournalist Aïda ... 

Perpetually inventive, The Most Secret Memory of Men is a dizzying novel, dominated by the demand for a choice between writing and life, or even by the desire to go beyond the question of face-to-face between Africa and West.

It is above all a love song for literature and its timeless power. "

(Presentation

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BONUS and Exclusive extract

: to listen to Mohamed Mbougar Sarr talk about his links to France, exile and his native country Senegal.

MOHAMED MBOUGAR SARR BONUS

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• Literature

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