Aminata Sow Fall

(may! from New York City, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons) On 27 April 1941, the Senegalese novelist Aminata Sow Fall was born. She is considered the first published woman novelist from francophone Africa. Her works are often concerned with social issues. With her experience in both Paris and Senegal, she explores the many of traditions and cultures within both of these societies.

She was born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, where she grew up before moving to Dakar to finish her secondary schooling. After this, she earned a degree in Modern Languages at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and became a teacher upon returning to Senegal. She was a member of the Commission for Educational Reform responsible for the introduction of African literature into the French syllabus in Senegal.

Growing up in an education system designed and run by the French, Sow Fall was only exposed to a few names from African literature growing up. With her experience of living and being educated in both Senegal and France, Sow Fall separated herself from other African writers, who, she expresses, often feel that they must situate themselves in relation to the West. She argues that African literature would gain from a sense of self-discovery through writing, a common experience for Western authors, and from leaving behind the self-consciousness which she feels many African authors have historically carried into their literature.

(Source: Wikipedia accessed on 22 April 2025)