Mariama Bâ

Senegal (1929–81)

Writes in French

Mariama Bâ was a pioneer of African women’s writing and feminisms. Born in Dakar into a Muslim Lébou family, she grew up amidst the economic crisis of 1929–39. After the death of her mother, she was raised by her grandparents in Saint-Louis, but later returned to the Dakar region to attend secondary school at the École normale de Rufisque, where she trained to be a teacher. She taught for decades before publishing her two novels near the end of her life. She was active in feminist organisations in Senegal, including the Fédération des associations féminines du Sénégal, and founded the feminist group Cercle Fémina. A high school on Gorée Island in Senegal (la Maison d’éducation Mariama Bâ) is named after her. Une si longue lettre (“So Long a Letter,” 1979) is one of the most widely translated and taught African novels. In 1980, it received the Noma Award for publishing in Africa. It recently also has been translated into Wolof, the most spoken language in Senegal, as Bataaxal bu gudde nii (Nouvelles Éditions Africaines du Sénégal, 2007). Bâ’s second novel, Un chant écarlate (“Scarlet Song,” 1981) was published shortly after her death.