She became a literary star in Senegal with novels that addressed women’s issues as the country, newly free from French colonial rule, was discovering its identity.
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.
There weren’t many opportunities for girls growing up in Senegal under French colonial rule. They could become subservient housewives, farmers or, if they were lucky enough to get an education, teachers or secretaries. Schooling was generally reserved for boys.
But from an early age, Mariama Bâ showed promise. Her father insisted she go to school, and a headmistress noticed her aptitude. “You have a gift,” she told her.
Bâ went on to break free of the shackles of her patriarchal society, and she also carved a path for future generations of women as an advocate, a teacher and, perhaps most notably, a literary trailblazer after Senegal achieved independence from France in 1960.
Her first novel, “Une Si Longue Lettre” (“So Long a Letter”), published in 1979, found resounding success internationally for its exploration of modern femininity under Islam. It won the first ever Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, has been translated into many languages and to this day is read widely in West African schools.
