Véronique Tadjo, Oumar El Foutiyou Ba, and Khady Fall Faye Diagne won at the Festival International de Littérature de Dakar 2025 in Dakar, Senegal on Saturday, May 24, 2025.
Festival International de Littérature de Dakar (Filid) (English: Dakar International Literary Festival) was first hosted in Dakar, Senegal, in 2022. It was attended by writers, literary critics, publishers, men and women of culture, students, and journalists from across Senegal and West Africa.
One of the festival’s most anticipated offerings is its literary prizes, celebrating the best prose and poetry submitted. The categories on offer are Prix Abdoulaye Racine Senghor, Prix International De littéraire Cheikh Hamidou Kane, and Prix international de poésie Annette Mbaye d’Erneville. Previous winners include Blaise Ndala (2022), Khalil Diallo, Tanella Boni, and Mbarek Ould Beyrouk (2023), and Sami Tchak and Mamadou Samb (2024).
Festival International de Littérature de Dakar (Filid) was hosted for the fourth time in the Senegalese capital from May 21 to 24, 2025. The event with the theme: “The Development of Culture: The Place of the Book”, with several events that examined the place of books in Senegalese culture.
On Saturday, the winners of the festival awards were announced at the closing ceremony at the French Institute of Dakar. The winners and the jury comments are;
Prix Abdoulaye Racine Senghor
The Senegalese novel prize
- Hold-Up La Coupe Ou La Vie, Oumar El Foutiyou Ba (L’Harmattan Sénégal)
Through this story rooted in contemporary realities, the author questions dreams of glory, the excesses of sports business and the fault lines of a society in search of reference points. A powerful novel, both breathtaking and deeply critical.
Prix International de Poésie Annette Mbaye d’Erneville 2025
- Balades en Blues sur La Venise du Sud, Khady Fall Faye Diagne (L’Harmattan Sénégal)
A work imbued with melancholy and musicality, which celebrates the city of Ziguinchor while evoking inner exile. A vibrant homage to Casamance, carried by a singular and assertive voice.
Prix International De littéraire Cheikh Hamidou Kane
An award for a novel that has won several distinctions in honour of Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane.
- Je Remercie La Nuit, Véronique Tadjo (Mémoire d’encrier)
The work, of rare power, testifies to the author’s ability to express the intimate while carrying a universal message. This prize pays tribute to a major figure in contemporary African literature, and underlines the pan-African roots of FILID.
Veronique Tadjo said, “I dedicate this Prize to my late husband who has been and remains a source of inspiration. A great thank you to all the members of the jury for the 2025 Cheick Hamidou Kane Prize. A tribute to a great writer, and a dignified man who gave us powerful works and a classic of African/World literature, “The Ambiguous Adventure”. This story helped me reflect on the Africa of yesterday and today in all its complexity. In awarding me this prize after the Hamadou Kourouma one, it is as if another benevolent spirit were leaning over me, telling me to keep going. To encourage me to write more, better, again and again. Because to write is to immerse oneself amongst others. To listen. To share. To face oneself. Literature is my starting point. My way out. My raft on the ocean. My comfort and my labour. The belief in tomorrow. The belief in that little bit of hope, something shining in the night. My gratitude to Mémoire d’encrier in Canada and to Vallesse Editions in Côte d’Ivoire.”
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