Kane has received wide acclaim for his first novel which tells the story of a young Muslim boy who is sent to the French school to learn secrets of the white man's power. Through his fiction, he grapples with the philosophical dimensions of the colonial encounter and the centrality of Islam in Senegalese culture. 178pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

Set in a remote village in Senegalese Ndoucoumane, and in Europe, this novel tells the story of a young student who travels to Brussels on a scholarship and finds herself exiled from both Africa and Europe. Text in Spanish. 191pp, SPAIN. EDICIONES ZANZIBAR.

2001 8493289809 Paperback

Diaw Falla, a black docker, is highly regarded in his African community in the south of France. He works to finance his obsession, writing a masterpiece that will elevate him above daily hardships. But the problems of racism, prejudice and injustice work against him. Translated from the French by Rob Schwartz. 120pp, UK. HARCOURT EDUCATION NETQUOTEVAR:HEINEMANN. 0435908960

1987 1973 Paperback

Salie lives in Paris. Back home on the Senegalese Island of Niodior, her football-crazy brother, Madicke, counts on her to get him to France, the promised land where foreign footballers become world famous. Given his illusions, how can Salie explain to him the grim reality of life as an immigrant? The story of Salie and Madicke highlights the painful situation of those who emigrate. An assured first novel. Translated from the French by Lulu Norman and Ros Schwartz. Gloss, 185pp, UK. SERPENT'S TAIL.

Dual language volume brings together the poetic works of one of Africa's most significant and important literary voices, Senghor's achievement has been in successfully using the French language to express African imagery, metaphor and thought. English and French text, 598pp, USA. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PRESS.

A sourcebook containing some of the best Mandika oral traditions ever published, emphasising history and witchcraft. Includes some Arabic texts in translation. BNS, 228pp, THE NETHERLANDS. EJ BRILL, 9004131248

In this book Ousmane draws on his experiences during the 1947-8 strike on the Dakar-Niger railway and draws a sweeping, historical narrative which encompasses the tragedy of pre-independence years. 336pp, UK. HEINEMANN AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES.

A chance encounter at Kennedy Airport with her ex-husband, Saliou Wade, takes Magdalene and their now adult daughter, Khadi, on a visit to him and his new family in Senegal. In Senegal, whilst the now cosmopolitan Saliou appears to exist comfortably in multiple worlds, there are more complex relationships to manage with members of his large extended family. But the sensitivities are not merely social and cultural. A visit Khadi and her half-sister Maimouna make to the slave port of Gorée has conse-quences that lay bare unfinished business between West Indians and Africans, between Magdalene and Saliou, and Khadi and her parents. And when Khadi and Hassim, Salious brother-in-law, are drawn together, those looking on must wonder whether history will repeat itself. 210pp, UK. PEEPAL TREE.

The political turbulence of the immediate pre independence period in the Sudan is recalled in this story of a 1958 referendum campaign. Text in French. 311pp, FRANCE. PRESENCE AFRICAINE, EDITIONS, 270870379X

Crime fiction. A Senegalese immigrant is accused of murdering a nine year old girl in southern Italy. Translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh. 274pp, UK. BITTER LEMON PRESS.

Autobiographical novel. The book opens with a description of the violence and trauma of a young girl's excision at age six. This is but the first of many trials. After a younger brother is almost killed by a truck, the family moves to La Medina, a Dakar neighbourhood where rats gnaw on children's toes at night and where children must struggle with adults in order to fetch water or use the communal toilet. Attending school is the one high point in the girl's life, but even there she must stand up to older bullies. Her family life is completely upset when her mother walks out, leaving her to clean, cook, and care for her younger brothers. Then when her father finds it impossible to cope with the children and with his failing business, he withdraws the little Peul from school and relocates the family once again, this time to his mother's village in the mountains of northern Guinea. Indignant that children have no rights and are lied to and deserted by their own parents, the young protagonist rebels against the idea that women should accept suffering and subjugation to men. She is determined to direct her own life and assert her right to do so. Translated from the French by Carrol F. Coates. 208pp, USA. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PRESS.

New edition. When Marguerite Ba is refused a visa to France to find her grandchild, she writes a letter to the French President answering each question asked of her in the application. Her name and place of birth? She recounts her magical childhood on the banks of the river Senegal. Marital status? Madame Ba tells the story of her passion and pain with a Peul husband. Children? She writes the story of their short lives and strange illnesses. This portrait of a Malian woman and the relationship of France with the ancient Malian empire was selected as one of novelist Nadine Gordimer's best books of 2003. TEXT IN FRENCH. 484pp, FRANCE. LE LIVRE DE POCHE.

Tales of tragedy, despair, bureaucratic incompetence and deceit. Text in French. 190pp, FRANCE. EDITIONS PRESENCE AFRICAINE.

Mireille, the daughter of a French diplomat and Ousmane, the son of a poor Muslim family in Senegal are childhood sweethearts. Their marriage shocks and dismays both sets of parents, but it becomes clear that their youthful optimism and love is a poor defence against the pressures of society. Gloss, notes, iv, 171pp, UK. PEARSON EDUCATION, 0582264553

A major novel from Francophone Africa, first published in 1979. Mariama Ba writes about a Senegalese woman in a changing society, evoking themes of personal liberation and the pull of tradition. In French. 165pp, FRANCE. EUROPEAN SCHOOLBOOKS, 2842612892

New edition with an introduction by Kenneth Harrow. Brought up Muslim in Francophone Senegal, Mariama Ba's novels explore the tensions between the different social realities existing in West Africa. Within this short novel, her first, she explores the condition of women in Africa and the disregard of their experiences. Set in the form of letters between two friends, Ba's lyrical prose reveals the pain of her character, whose husband, in a deliberate betrayal of trust, took another wife - an action sanctioned by society but out of touch with modern realities and relationships. Translated from the French by Modupe Bode-Thomas. Notes, 96pp, UK. HEINEMAN AFRICAN CLASSICS.