WRITERS from Senegal

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Senegalese Writers of all time. This list of famous Senegalese Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906 - 2001)

With an HPI of 67.49, Léopold Sédar Senghor is the most famous Senegalese Writer.  His biography has been translated into 76 different languages on wikipedia.

Léopold Sédar Senghor (; French: [sɑ̃ɡɔʁ]; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–1980). Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one of the major theoreticians of Négritude. He was a proponent of African culture, black identity, and African empowerment within the framework of French-African ties. He advocated for the extension of full civil and political rights for France's African territories while arguing that French Africans would be better off within a federal French structure than as independent nation-states. Senghor became the first president of independent Senegal. He fell out with his long-standing associate Mamadou Dia, who was the prime minister of Senegal, arresting him on suspicion of fomenting a coup and imprisoning him for 12 years. Senghor established an authoritarian one-party state in Senegal where all rival political parties were prohibited. Senghor was the founder of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc party in 1948. He was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française and won the 1985 International Nonino Prize in Italy. Senghor is regarded by many as one of the most important African intellectuals of the 20th century.

2. Mariama Bâ (1929 - 1981)

With an HPI of 53.39, Mariama Bâ is the 2nd most famous Senegalese Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929 – August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, whose two French-language novels were both translated into more than a dozen languages. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim. Her frustration with the fate of African women is expressed in her first novel, Une si longue lettre (1979; translated into English as So Long a Letter). In this semi-autobiographical epistolary work, Bâ depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. This short book was awarded the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1980.

3. Aminata Sow Fall (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 47.55, Aminata Sow Fall is the 3rd most famous Senegalese Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Aminata Sow Fall (born April 27, 1941) is a Senegalese-born author. While her native language is Wolof, her books are written in French. She is considered "the first published woman novelist from francophone Black Africa".

4. Birago Diop (1908 - 1989)

With an HPI of 46.43, Birago Diop is the 4th most famous Senegalese Writer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Birago Diop (11 December 1906 – 25 November 1989) was a Senegalese poet and storyteller whose work restored general interest in African folktales and promoted him to one of the most outstanding African francophone writers. A renowned veterinarian, diplomat and leading voice of the Négritude literary movement, Diop exemplified the "African renaissance man".

5. Cheikh Hamidou Kane (b. 1928)

With an HPI of 44.86, Cheikh Hamidou Kane is the 5th most famous Senegalese Writer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Cheikh Hamidou Kane (born 2 April 1928) is a Senegalese writer best known for his 1961 novel L'Aventure ambiguë (Ambiguous Adventure), about the interactions of western and African cultures. Its hero is a Fulani boy who goes to study in France, where he loses touch with his Islamic faith and his Senegalese roots. The novel was awarded the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1962.

6. Fatou Diome (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 40.82, Fatou Diome is the 6th most famous Senegalese Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Fatou Diome (born 1968 in Niodior) is a French-Senegalese writer known for her best-selling novel The Belly of the Atlantic, which was published in 2001. Her work explores immigrant life in France, and the relationship between France and Africa. Fatou Diome lives in Strasbourg, France.

7. Khady Sylla (1963 - 2013)

With an HPI of 38.55, Khady Sylla is the 7th most famous Senegalese Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Khady Sylla (Dakar, March 27, 1963 – Dakar, October 8, 2013) was a Senegalese writer of two novels, short work, and filmmaker.

8. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 36.47, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is the 8th most famous Senegalese Writer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (born 20 June 1990) is a Senegalese writer. Raised in Diourbel, Senegal and later studying in France, Sarr is the author of four novels as well as a number of award-winning short stories. He won the 2021 Prix Goncourt for his novel La plus secrète mémoire des hommes (lit. 'The Most Secret Memory of Men'), becoming the first Sub-Saharan African to do so.