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 The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

for his novel '' The Most Secret Memory of Men'', becoming the first Sub-Saharan African to do so.

Early life

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was born in 1990 in

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 2 ...

, Senegal. The son of a physician, he grew up in a large Serer family in

Diourbel Diourbel ( ar, ديوربل; Serer: ''Jurbel'', Wolof: ''Njaaréem'') is a town in Senegal lying east of Thiès. It is known for its mosque and local groundnut industry and is the capital of the Diourbel Region. The population in 2013 was 1 ...

.Littérature: le Sénégalais Mohamed Mbougar Sarr remporte le prix Kourouma pour « Terre Ceinte »
''Jeune Afrique'', 1 May 2015 (French). He completed his secondary studies at the Prytanée militaire of Saint-Louis. He moved to France to study in CPGE (

classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles The ''classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles'' (CPGE) (English: Higher School Preparatory Classes), commonly called ''classes prépas'' or ''prépas'', are part of the French post-secondary education system. They consist of two years of stud ...

) at the in

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

. He later studied at the

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and ''grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

(EHESS), where his research focused on

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...

. Sarr began writing more and pursued fiction, opting not to finish his thesis at the EHESS.

Career

Sarr's short story "La cale" (2014), about the slave trade, was awarded the Prix Stéphane-Hessel. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''Terre ceinte'' (2015), describes life in a fictional

Sahelian The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...

village under the control of Islamist

jihadi Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

militias. In 2015, it received the Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma at the Salon du livre of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. It was also awarded the 2015

Grand prix du roman métis The Grand prix du roman métis is a French literary award established in 2010 by the city of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion. Jury The jury comes from the book world and includes the winners of the previous year’s award. List of winners Gr ...

by the city of Saint-Denis de La Réunion, as well as the 2015 Prix du roman métis des lycéens. In 2021, an English translation by Alexia Trigo, titled ''

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

'', was published by

Europa Editions Europa Editions is an independent trade publisher based in New York. The company was founded in 2005 by the owners of the Italian press Edizioni E/O and specializes in literary fiction, mysteries, and narrative non-fiction. Europa has published ...

. At the

2017 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2017 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''VIIIèmes Jeux de la Francophonie'' ( French for ''8th Francophone Games''), informally known as Abidjan 2017, took place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from July 21–30. This was the first edition of ...

, he received the bronze medal in the literature category for his short story "Ndënd". His second novel, ''Silence du chœur'' (2017), a portrait of the day-to-day life of African migrants in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, received the prix littérature monde at the festival in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

. It also received the Prix du roman métis des lecteurs of Saint-Denis de La Réunion in 2018. His third novel, ''De purs hommes'' (2018), deals with the prejudice and violence surrounding homosexuality in Senegal, where it is still illegal to be openly gay. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr 3nov2021

In November 2021, he was awarded the

for his novel '' La plus secrète mémoire des hommes'' ( 'The Most Secret Memory of Men'). Sarr won in the first round of voting, by six votes against three votes for Sorj Chalandon and one vote for

Louis-Philippe Dalembert Louis-Philippe Dalembert (born December, 1962 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian poet and novelist. He writes in both French and Haitian creole. His works have been translated into several languages. He now divides his home between Paris and ...

. He is the first person from

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

to win the Prix Goncourt,. At 31 years old, he is also the youngest Goncourt laureate since Patrick Grainville won in 1976. The novel was also shortlisted for the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

and the

Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the ...

; and longlisted for the

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and . It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent." The award goes to a work of fiction in the French language. In 19 ...

and for the 2023

National Book Award for Translated Literature The National Book Award for Translated Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards recognising outstanding literary works of translation into English administered by the National Book Foundation. This award was previously given from 1967 ...

Prizes

*2014: Prix Stéphane-Hessel for "La cale" *2015: Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma for ''

'' *2015:

for ''Brotherhood''Sénégal – Mohamed Mbougar Sarr : « Lire apporte un surplus de vision politique »
''Jeune Afrique'', 7 May 2015 (French). *2021:

for '' The Most Secret Memory of Men''

Works

* — (2014). "La cale". * ** * * * **

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mbougar Sarr, Mohamed 1990 births Living people 21st-century Senegalese writers People from Dakar Prix Goncourt winners School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences alumni Senegalese emigrants to France Senegalese writers in French