Who was Mariama Bâ ?

• 17 April 1929 – 17 August 1981
• Writer, Feminist (Senegal)

Mariama Bâ was an amazing writer who was quite ahead of her time in many respects. She was not afraid to tackle very complex and controversial topics such as polygamy.

As a leading feminist, she used her talents to speak out about this custom in West Africa.

She wrote two amazing book and the most famous one is ‘So Long A Letter’, a beautiful novel which delves in depth into the inner feelings of a woman living into polygamy.

Mariama Bâ was revolutionary in her writing because she chose to speak out about a topic which is generally ‘dismissed’ in Africa. She humanised this experience and gave a voice to many women through her work.