Aminata Sow Fall (born 27 April 1941) is a

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...

ese-born author. While her native language is Wolof, her books are written in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. She is considered "the first published woman novelist from francophone Black Africa". Margaret Busby, '' Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent'' (1992), London: Vintage, 1993, p. 525.

Life

She was born in

Saint-Louis, Senegal Saint Louis or Saint-Louis ( wo, Ndar), is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city Dakar, it has a population officially ...

, where she grew up before moving to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in ...

to finish her secondary schooling. After this, she did a degree in Modern Languages in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and became a teacher upon returning to Senegal."Aminata Sow Fall"
The University of Western Australia/French, 25 December 1995. She was a member of the Commission for Educational Reform responsible for the introduction of African literature into the French syllabus in Senegal, before becoming director of La Propriété littéraire (The Literary Property) in

(1979–88). She was appointed the first woman president of Senegal's Writer's Association in 1985. In 1990 she founded the publishing house Éditions Khoudia. She played the part of Aunt Oumy in

Djibril Diop Mambéty Djibril Diop Mambéty (January 1945 – July 23, 1998) was a Senegalese film director, actor, orator, composer and poet. Though he made only two feature films and five short films, they received international acclaim for their original and ex ...

's classic 1973 road movie

Touki Bouki ''Touki Bouki'' (, Wolof for ''The Journey of the Hyena'') is a 1973 Senegalese drama film, directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty. It was shown at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and the 8th Moscow International Film Festival. The film was restored ...

Awards

* 1980 -

Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire The Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire (one of the major literary prizes of Black Africa for Francophone Literature) is a literary prize presented every year by the ADELF, the Association of French Language Writers for a French original tex ...

for ''

La Grève des bàttu ''La Grève des bàttu'' (The Beggars strike) is the second novel by Aminata Sow Fall, published in 1979 by Nouvelles éditions africaines. In 1980, it won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire The Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire ...

''. * 1982 - Prix International Alioune Diop for ''

L'Appel des arènes ''L'Appel'' (''The Calling'') was a collaborationist periodical of Vichy France. It was the organ of the collaborationist French League and edited by the League's leader, Pierre Costantini of the Parti populaire français (PPF). The paper was est ...

''. * 1997 - honorary doctorate from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United State ...

, South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Writing

Her books include: *''

Le Revenant ''A Lover's Return'' (french: Un revenant, french: Le revenant) is a 1946 French drama film directed by Christian-Jaque. It was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Jean-Jacques Sauvage, a theater director believed dead by everyone ...

'', Nouvelles éditions africaines, 1976. . *''La Grève des bàttu'' (1979); Nouvelles éditions africaines, 1980; Serpent à plumes (paperback 2001), **''The Beggars' Strike'', trans.

Dorothy Blair Dorothy Sara Blair, ''nee'' Greene (1913–1998) was an English scholar and translator of Francophone African literature. Life Marjorie Greene was born in Birmingham, England. She studied at Royal Holloway College before training to teach Frenc ...

, Longman (1986), *''L'Appel des arènes'' (The Call of the Arena) (1982); Nouvelles éditions africaines, 1993. . *''Ex-père de la nation: roman'', Paris: L'Harmattan, 1987. . *''Douceurs du bercail'', Nouvelles Editions ivoiriennes, 1998. . *''Le jujubier du patriarche: roman'', Serpent à Plumes, 1998 *''Sur le flanc gauche du Belem''. Arles: Actes Sud, 2002. . *''Un grain de vie et d'espérance''. Paris: Françoise Truffaut Editions, 2002. . * The film ''Battu'' (2000) by director Cheick Oumar Sissoko is based on her novel ''La Grève des bàttu''.

Life

Awards

Writing

References

Further reading