Fatou Diome was born in 1968 on the island of Niodior in the Sine-Saloum region of Senegal. Since 1994, she has lived in Strasbourg, France. In addition to pursuing doctoral studies in literature at the University of Strasbourg, Diome has published four novels, a short-story collection, an illustrated book of poems and short prose, and several short stories. Her first novel,
Le ventre de l’Atlantique[
The Belly of the Atlantic], received wide critical and popular acclaim and has been translated into over a dozen languages.
Diome’s work, which often features protagonists who migrate from Senegal to France, follows a long tradition of Francophone sub-Saharan African literature that depicts travel between Africa and France. Le ventre de l’Atlantique, in particular, joins works of
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Citation: Van Deventer, Allison. "Fatou Diome". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 March 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13167, accessed 21 November 2024.]