Posted on Monday, April 18th, 2016

The late Léopold Sédar Senghor was a renowned writer but only recently has a significant volume of his work been translated from French to Serer, reported Ndéla Faye from the village of Fadial, Senegal, to the UK’s The Guardian newspaper in March this year.

Senghor co-founded, with Aimé Césaire [- a diow guiding spirit -] the Négritude movement, which promotes distinctly African cultural values and aesthetics, in opposition to the influence of French colonialism and European exploitation. He also co-founded the journal Presence Africaine with Alione Diop. Senghor, the first African invited to join the Académie Française, was awarded honorary doctorates from 37 universities, in addition to many other literary honors. He died in 2001 at his home in France at the age of 95. 

www.poetryfoundation.org

 

 

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