Prix National Cénacle du Livre Senegal winners announced.

Tabara Niang, Maguèye Toure, and Elaz Ndongo Thioye won in their categories at the Prix National Cénacle du Livre Senegal at the Pullman Hotel in Dakar. The announcement was made at a grand celebration of Senegalese literature on Saturday, June 11, 2022.

Prix National Cénacle du Livre Senegal is an initiative from Cénacle des Jeunes Écrivains du Sénégal to promote books and writers, and intends to reward the best works published in Senegal, written by Senegalese or foreigners, without distinction of age. The initiative in its first year celebrates work in poetry and prose with a 1,000,000 FCFA cash prize and a reissue of 100 copies of the prize-winning books.

On May 6, the Cénacle national du livre announced the finalists of Prix Cénacle from those who had entered in the three categories. They included;

Novel

• Idrissa Sow Gorkoodio, Le Nid De La Torture (Editions Aminata Sow Fall)
• Ken Bugul, Aller et Retour (NEAS)
• Tabara Niang, Caleche d’une Demoiselle (Editions L’Harmattan)

New work

• Maguèye Toure, Les Super-Heroes (NEAS)
• Sokhna Fatou Dieng, Le Livres Nuptial (Nuit En Jour)
• Boubacar Ndiaye, Le Bracelet arc-en-ciel (Editions Mama Touty)

Poetry

• Anna Ly Ngaye, Entre Dieses es Bemols (Editions Mama Touty)
• Elaz Ndongo Thioye, Cantiques Crépusculaires (Editions L’Harmattan)
• Salif Niokhor Diop, Nadège Cantate dans un opéra pour une Albinos (Editions Plumes d’ébène)

On Saturday evening many in the Senegalese literary community gathered in the Pullman Hotel in Dakar to celebrate their best writers. Getting the honours on the evening were Tabara Niang, Maguèye Toure, and Elaz Ndongo Thioye.

The poetry award for Elaz Ndongo Thioye, who was out of the country so the award, was received by Khalil Diallo on his behalf. Thioye said online, “I have the pleasure to announce that my collection “Twilight Songs” is a Poetry Category Winner for the First Edition of the Prix National Cénacle du Livre, organized by the Cenacle of Young Writers of Senegal. I raise this coronation in honor of my friend and brother, Sam Kébé, gone too soon to the intimate places of heaven to marry the silence of the dead.”

It wasn’t just the new stars of Senegalese writing that emerged as those who came before were feted. These included writers Ken Bugul, Aminata Sow Fall, Boubacar Boris Diop, Abdoulaye Racine Senghor, as well as Sada Kane for her commitment to the promotion of the literary arts.