On Saturday, October 15, 2022, the dedication ceremony of “Rouges Silences” by Senegalese writer Fatimata Diallo Ba was held in Dakar, organized by the association “Toujours Kennedyennes” at the Maison BINAF around 4 p.m., local time.
The novelist, two novels to her credit, wanted to thank on the Facebook page the people – friends, acquaintances, lovers of literature – who took part in the ceremony. His post of Wednesday, October 19, 2022, states: “May this book find readers’ hearts so that we may have more opportunities to celebrate literature.” And at the end of her post, she says, “I’m still floating in my pink cloud.”
The huge hall in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, was full of people. The dedication of Fatimata Diallo Ba’s second novel took place in a magical atmosphere. Master of Ceremonies Zoubida Fall, Podcast’s producer on feminism, mastered the subject from start to finish. She gave a special stamp to this literary ceremony. Many personalities wanted to be present, including El Hadji Kassé, Andrée Marie Diagne, Laura Fortez, Raby Hagne Seck. Then it was the touching words of the editor Abdoulaye Diallo.
From a family of teachers, Fatimata Diallo Ba grew up in Dakar before flying to France. She studied Classics in Poitiers. After teaching for almost two decades in the Parisian suburbs, she decided to return to the country and bring her knowledge to the new generation. Fatimata Diallo Ba has a CV as imposing as the African Renaissance Monument. This teacher of classical letters was Inspector of National Education, Inspector of General Middle Secondary Education, National Director of the National Institute of Studies and Action for the Development of Education (INEADE), Education Policy Advisor at CONFEMEN from 2013 to 2018 before being appointed Director General of General Middle Secondary Education. After her first novel «Des cris sous la peau», she returns with «Rouges Silences».
In this novel, a little bit built in the Mariama Ba style… takes you gripping right away. The author unrolls the kaleidoscope of silence – or of the different layers of silence that can be the silence of a woman who is consumed from within – through the incessant migration of Yandé who seeks himself. Back in Senegal, she finds herself and decides to revolt, to say no. We are faced with complex and plural identities. Mor, her husband, won’t hurt her again.
