Senegal is home to a number of literary poets and writers. Mariama Bâ, Fatou Diome, and the first president Léopold Sédar Senghor are all well known for their literary contributions, among a number of others.

Senegalese Literature in Wolof:

Boubacar Boris Diop, a Senegalese writer and journalist, is most famous for producing Doomi Golo, a novel written in Wolof (not translated from another language).

• Doomi Golo

• Doomi Golo (English translation)

Mariama Bâ was a famous Senegalese feminist and author. Struggling against her family’s traditional views on girls education, she had to work hard to obtain her education. One of her most famous works, So Long a Letter, expresses her frustration and overall views of the fate of African women. Although writing primarily in French, her novel So Long a Letter was also translated into Wolof.

• Bataaxal bu gudde nii (Wolof translation)

• So Long a Letter (English translation)

• Une si longue lettre (French original)

Senegalese Literature in French:

Fatou Diome is a Senegalese writer best known for her novel Le ventre de L’Atlantique, which was later translated into English and also published as The Belly of the Atlantic.

• Le ventre de L’Atlantique (French original)

• The Belly of the Atlantic (English translation)

Léopold Sédar Senghor was also a poet and cultural theorist. Senghor contributed to the creation and coining of Négritude.

• The poetry of Léopold Sédar Senghor

• Poems of Léopold Sédar SenghorLéopold Sédar Senghor : poétique et poésie

• Léopold Sédar Senghor and the politics of Negritude

• The concept of negritude in the poetry of Léopold Sédar Senghor

• The African image (Négritude) in the work of Léopold Sédar Senghor

Additional UIUC Resources:

• Contes et mythes Wolof (Wolof Short Stories & Myths)
• Junniy leebuy Wolof (Wolof Proverbs)

Additional Resources:

• Wolof Folk Tales & Songs
• Proverbs:
  • ​eHRAF
  • World Cultures
  • Boston University
  • Other Proverbs
  • Le Petit Wolof
  • Le coeur du Senegal