This Sunday, December 22, on the sidelines of the Women's Book Fair held at the Museum of African Civilizations, the authors of the collection of short stories Plurielles presented their collective work, a collection of eight inspiring texts exploring the condition of women. This book, written by eight women, highlights their unique perspectives and personal stories.
The project began with a week-long writing residency in Ngor, where the foundations of short story writing were established. According to Madjiguene Kane, a journalist and committed slammer, this residency was crucial for structuring literary work. She adds that the idea for the book was born from her desire to write, but that a call for applications led her to this collective project to send a message. The entire process, including proofreading, took about a year of work.
The short stories cover various themes, but all focus on female social realities. Arame Ndiaye, journalist for the national daily Le Soleil, underlines that Plurielles addresses several themes such as the loss of a child, early marriages, the search for paternity, the effects of social networks and copyright problems…
In the same vein, Fatou Ndiaye, a law and journalism student, explains that she dealt with the themes of betrayal and copyright in her short story, emphasizing that these issues affect women. She specifies: “That's a bit why I addressed this theme in the short story and I tell myself that these two things follow one another in an environment where the more we evolve, the more people there are who are there to appropriate the work of others to make a name for oneself.”
The texts of Plurielles bear witness to experiences of disappointment and hope. Aissatou Touré, sociology student, confides that her short story is autobiographical and allowed her to externalize feelings that she would not have been able to express otherwise. She explains that writing was an exercise that was both painful and liberating: “It was an opportunity for me to express all these feelings through the short story… It allowed me to bring out my pain.”
The voice of women at the heart of Plurielles
A common thread connects all the news: the desire to give women a voice. Madjiguene Kane affirms: “there is no one better than women to talk about women’s ills”. Similarly, Arame Ndiaye remarks: “who better than the woman herself to talk about her sisters and mothers and all the others”. She also adds that the writer is a spectator of his society and she is also his first source of inspiration.
The authors of Plurielles hope that this collection of short stories will make the suffering of women in Senegal and around the world heard. They also aspire to pursue their passion for writing and publish their first novels. This collection of short stories is an important initiative to give visibility to women's experiences and provoke reflection on crucial social issues.
