Start here
So Long a Letter
Mariama Bâ
Novel, 1979. Translated from French
A Dakar widow's letter to a friend explores polygamy, class and women's lives in post-independence Muslim Senegalese society.
Books set in Senegal
Five books by writers from Senegal, set there, that give a real sense of the place, starting with So Long a Letter and The Beggars' Strike.
About the literature of Senegal
Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter, a Dakar widow's letter to a friend about polygamy, class and women's lives, is among the best-known novels from Senegal. Senegal became independent from France in 1960, and many of its leading novelists write in French, while Wolof, the most widely spoken language, has long traditions of oral storytelling and praise-singing kept by griots, hereditary poets and historians. Ousmane Sembène, also a film-maker, skewered Dakar's post-independence business elite in Xala, which centres on a businessman struck by impotence on his third wedding day.
Aminata Sow Fall's The Beggars' Strike satirises Dakar's officials and beggars, drawing on Muslim customs of alms-giving and sacrifice. Cheikh Hamidou Kane's Ambiguous Adventure, a classic of the colonial era, shows a young Diallobé nobleman torn between Islamic tradition in rural Senegal and a French education. Islam, French rule and life in Dakar recur throughout.
By writers from Senegal
“Find a copy” goes to Bookshop.org. If you buy, we earn a small commission and independent bookshops get a share too.
The Beggars' Strike
Aminata Sow Fall
Novel, 1979. Translated from French by Dorothy S. Blair
A satire of Dakar's officials and beggars that draws on Senegalese Muslim customs of alms-giving and sacrifice.
Xala
Ousmane Sembène
Novel, 1973. Translated from French by Clive Wake
A biting satire of Dakar's post-independence business elite, following a businessman struck by impotence on his third wedding day.
Ambiguous Adventure
Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Novel, 1961. Translated from French
A young Diallobé nobleman is torn between Islamic tradition in rural Senegal and French education, in a classic of the colonial era.
The Money-Order with White Genesis
Ousmane Sembène
Short stories, 1965. Translated from French by Clive Wake
Two novellas, one following a Dakar man swamped by relatives and bureaucracy when a money order arrives, capture everyday urban life.
More from Africa
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Côte d'Ivoire Djibouti DR Congo Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe