Fatou Diome

Fatou Diome (Niodior, Senegal, 1968) is a Senegalese writer whose works are written in French.

After the publication of his collection of short novels, La Préférence nationale (2001), his novel Le ventre de l'Atlantique (2003) acquired a great international recognition. Her work focuses mainly on the themes of immigration in France and the relations between France and the African continent.

Biography

Fatou Diome was born in 1968 on the small island of Niodior (located in the delta of the Salum River, in the Serer town, southwest of Senegal). A natural daughter - since her parents were not married - she was raised by her grandmother, Animata. Her last name comes from the Sine-Salum region, where the Diome belong to the Niominka people (an ethnic group from Senegal).

Contrary to the traditions of her homeland, Fatou hobnobbed with men rather than helping women prepare meals and do household chores. Since she was not in tune with the microcosm of island, Fatou decided to go to school and learn French. Since it took her grandmother a while to accept her granddaughter being educated, young Fatou had to attend school secretly. It was her teacher who convinced her grandmother to let her continue with the studies of her.

At the age of 13, Fatou began to become passionate about French-speaking literature and began to write. At the age of 14, he left his village to continue his studies in other cities in Senegal, financing this nomadic life with occasional jobs. After this, she went to M'Bour secondary school, worked as a maid in Gambia and began her university studies in Dakar. At that time, she dreamed of becoming a French teacher in Senegal.

At the age of 22, she fell in love with a Frenchman, got married and decided to follow him to Strasbourg (France) in 1994. Fatou was rejected by her husband's family and divorced two years later, leaving her in a situation difficult as an immigrant in French territory. In order to survive and finance her studies, she was forced to become a maid for six years. Finally, Fatou worked as a lecturer after passing his DEA and began a thesis on "Les voyages, les échanges et la formation dans l'œuvre littéraire et cinématographique de Sembène Ousmane".

Career

After studying literature and philosophy at the University of Strasbourg, Fatou worked as a professor there. After this, she taught at the Marc-Bloch University of Strasbourg and at the Higher Institute of Pedagogy in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 2017, Fatou received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Liège.

Fatou also dedicated himself to writing and in 2001 published La Préférence nationale, a collection of short novels, published by the magazine Présence africaine. Her first novel Le Ventre de l'Atlantique appeared in 2003 in the Anne Carrière publishing house. Subsequently, he published Kétala (2006), Inassouvies, nos vies (2008), Celles qui attendent (2010) and Impossible de grandir (2013).

In 2019, he won the Rotary Clubs Literary Award in the French language for his novel Les veilleurs de Sangomar.

His work

France and Africa, and the relationship between the two, constitute the framework of his fictional works. His style is inspired by the traditional art of storytelling, as still practiced in Africa. With her precise and authentic descriptions, mischievous humor, and biting but nuanced language, she paints a haunting portrait of the plight of African immigrants in France interspersed with nostalgic memories of her native Senegal.

In 2004 Fatou Diome presented at the Forum International Cinéma & Littératures in Monte Carlo his novel «Le ventre de l'atlantique».

Political ideology

Fatou Diome rebels against the intolerant, defends the role of the school and republican values.

Faced with the rise of populism, Fatou is regularly invited to share her point of view on political and social issues in television media and in the press. She takes a strong position against the rise of populism with the National Front political party in France. As a writer, she wishes, through her books, to remember republican and human values since she believes that "we should no longer remain silent in the face of those obsessed with national identity."

He also carries out a speech that demands more equal cooperation between Europe and Africa. Fatou believes that, for the moment, Europe is pulling the strings of unequal cooperation and that Africa has no control over its assets. He also believes that the colonial complex persists for both Africans and Europeans, which prevents this cooperation from being more equal.

She defends the idea that everyone, regardless of their origin, should feel like a human being before another human being. In this sense, without placing the responsibility more on one continent than on another, she defends the need for Africans are freed from their status as victims and that Europeans are freed from their dominant position in order to put an end to the exploiter/exploited, donor/assisted division.

Finally, she specifies that helping a person is making them no longer need your help, echoing the development aid launched by Western countries in Africa, in particular.

Works

• 2001: La Préférence nationale, collection of short novels, editorial Présence Africaine.
• 2002: Les Loups de l’Atlantique, short novels, in the collection: Étonnants Voyageurs. Nouvelles Voix d’Afrique.
• 2003: Le Ventre de l'Atlantique, novel, editorial Anne Carrière, editorial Le Livre de poche 30239
• 2006: Kétala, novel, editorial Flammarion.
• 2008: Inassouvies, you saw us., novel, editorial Flammarion.
• 2010: Le Vieil Homme sur la barque, account (ilustrations of Titouan Lamazou), Naïve.
• 2010: Celles qui attendent, novel editorial Flammarion
• 2010: Mauve, story, editorial Flammarion
• 2013: Impossible of grandir, novel, editorial Flammarion.
• 2017: Marianne porte plainte!, essay, editorial Flammarion.
• 2019: Les Veilleurs de SangomarAlbin Michel.