Born in Dakar but of Guinean origin, Mariama Barry claims both Senegal and Guinea as -her- countries. This dual background lends her significant and widespread visibility not only because she is the first woman writer of Guinea to have gained extensive international recognition but also because Senegalese women novelists were the first African women writing in French to win international acclaim.

Barry's autobiographical novel, La petite Peule (2000), is the story of an early Peul childhood spent in Senegal. The Peul are a primarily nomadic people of western Africa. The book opens...

Born in Dakar but of Guinean origin, Mariama Barry claims both Senegal and Guinea as -her- countries. This dual background lends her significant and widespread visibility not only because she is the first woman writer of Guinea to have gained extensive international recognition but also because Senegalese women novelists were the first African women writing in French to win international acclaim.

Barry's autobiographical novel, La petite Peule (2000), is the story of an early Peul childhood spent in Senegal. The Peul are a primarily nomadic people of western Africa. The book opens...