Fatou Diome

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fatou Diome

Born 1968
Niodior, Senegal
Occupation Novelist, short story writer
Nationality Senegalese
Writing period 2001-present
Genres Literary fiction

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

Contents

[edit] Biography

Fatou Diome was born in Niodior on the island of the same name in the Sine-Saloum Delta. She was raised by her grandmother and went to school where she learned French and became passionate about French literature. At the age of 13 she left Niodior and continued her education in M'Bour. Later she moved to Dakar to study at the university, supporting herself by working as a housekeeper.

In 1990 she married a Frenchman and moved to France. Rejected by his family she divorces two years later. In 1994 Fatou moves to Strasbourg to study at the University of Strasbourg. She currently works on her Ph.D. in French language and literature. The title of her Ph.D. thesis is Le Voyage, les échanges et la formation dans l'œuvre littéraire et cinématographique de Ousmane Sembène.

[edit] Works

Fatou Diome published a collection of short stories, La Préférence nationale in 2001. Her first novel, The Belly of the Atlantic (French: Le Ventre de l'Atlantique) became a bestseller in France and is published in English by Serpent's Tail. Her first novel was partly autobiographical and is about Salie, a Senegalese immigrant living in Paris, and her younger brother Madicke, who stayed behind in Senegal. After years of struggle Salie has finally arrived and settled in France. Her younger brother dreams of following her to France and to become a successful football player. The Belly of the Atlantic was translated into English, German and Spanish. Her second novel Kétala was published in 2006 in France. In her work Fatou Diome explores France and Africa, and the relationship between the two countries.

Her style is influenced by the traditional oral literature of Africa. Her language is authentic and vivid and traces a portrait of the difficulties of integrating in France as an immigrant, mixed with nostalgia and memories of a childhood in Senegal.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links