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Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

モハメド・ムブガル・サル

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1990-06-20 （Dakar, Senegal）
Nationality
Senegalese
Languages
French
Residence History
Dakar, Senegal → Diourbel, Senegal → Saint-Louis, Senegal → Compiègne, France

Career

Occupations
Writer
Active Years
2014-2025
Nominations
Shortlisted for Prix Femina, Prix Renaudot; Longlisted for Prix Médicis, 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature

Education

Prytanée militaire de Saint-Louis
Secondary education
Country: Senegal
Completed secondary studies
Lycée Pierre-d'Ailly
CPGE
Country: France
In Compiègne
School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS)
Research on Léopold Sédar Senghor
Country: France
Did not finish thesis

Awards

Prix Stéphane-Hessel
2014
Work: La cale
Category: 短編小説
Result: 受賞
Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma
2015
Work: Terre ceinte / Brotherhood
Category: 小説
Organization: Salon du livre of Geneva
Result: 受賞
Grand prix du roman métis
2015
Work: Terre ceinte / Brotherhood
Category: 小説
Organization: City of Saint-Denis de La Réunion
Result: 受賞
Prix du roman métis des lycéens
2015
Work: Terre ceinte / Brotherhood
Organization: Saint-Denis de La Réunion
Result: 受賞
Bronze medal at Jeux de la Francophonie
2017
Work: Ndënd
Category: 短編小説
Organization: Jeux de la Francophonie
Result: 銅メダル
Prix littérature monde
2018
Work: Silence du chœur
Organization: Étonnants Voyageurs festival
Result: 受賞
Prix du roman métis des lecteurs
2018
Work: Silence du chœur
Organization: Saint-Denis de La Réunion
Result: 受賞
Prix Goncourt
2021
Work: The Most Secret Memory of Men
Category: 小説
Organization: Académie Goncourt
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

National Book Award for Translated Literature 1 appearances
  1. Edition 6 (2023) Longlisted
    Work: The Most Secret Memory of Men

    A meta-novel about a young Senegalese writer that probes literary memory, legacy, plagiarism, and the burden of authorship.

    The most secret memory hides inside the written word.

    378 pages
    metafictionSenegalliteraturememoryauthorship

Works

Major Works

Terre ceinte / Brotherhood

2015 Novel

Describes life in a fictional Sahelian village under Islamist jihadi militias.

Islamist militiasSahelVillage life
Translations
  • English: Brotherhood (trans. Alexia Trigo, 2021)

Silence du chœur / The Silence of the Choir

2017 Novel

Portrait of the day-to-day life of African migrants in Sicily.

MigrationAfricaSicily
Translations
  • English: The Silence of the Choir (trans. Alison Anderson, 2024)

De purs hommes

2018 Novel

Deals with prejudice and violence surrounding homosexuality in Senegal.

HomosexualitySenegalPrejudice

La plus secrète mémoire des hommes / The Most Secret Memory of Men

2021 Novel

Story of searching for a lost African literary masterpiece.

LiteratureMemoryAfrica
Translations
  • English: The Most Secret Memory of Men (trans. Lara Vergnaud, 2023)

Bibliography

  • La cale (2014, short story)
  • Terre ceinte (2015)
  • Silence du chœur (2017)
  • De purs hommes (2018)
  • La plus secrète mémoire des hommes (2021)
  • Ndënd (2017, short story)

Translations of Works

  • English translations of major works as listed

Style & Themes

Literary Style
French-language literatureContemporary African literature
Recurring Motifs
African identityMigrationLegacy of colonialism

Legacy

First Sub-Saharan African winner of the Prix Goncourt. Senegalese French-language writer internationally acclaimed.

In Popular Culture

  • One of the youngest Goncourt winners at 31 (youngest since 1976).

Trivia

  • From a large Serer family in Diourbel, Senegal.
  • Son of a physician.
  • Chose fiction over completing EHESS thesis on Senghor.