Jules Marie Ndane Diouf wins Ibrahima Sall Prize for poetry

Poet Jules Marie Ndane Diouf has been awarded the second Ibrahima Sall Prize for his poetry collection, ‘Tomba d’Ivoire’. The award was presented during the fourth edition of the Printemps des poètes, an event organized by the ‘Parlons poésie’ collective in collaboration with the magazine ‘Sénégal Njaay’. The competition featured over 40 candidates and 10 finalists.

The collection, consisting of approximately thirty poems, explores themes of childhood, myth, love, death, and social marginalization. Diouf utilizes the work to address the ‘amnesic memory’ regarding Senegalese literature, seeking to reconnect with historical roots and the legacy of figures like Senghor. The title and content evoke a ‘funereal geography’ involving ancestors, tombs, and the concept of the buried past.