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First black female winner for France's top literary prize
The French-Senegalese writer Marie NDiaye yesterday became the first black woman to win the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize.
NDiaye called the prize, worth a nominal €10 but far more in prestige and additional sales, an "unexpected reward for 25 years of persistence". She had previously won France's Femina literary prize, which is awarded by a jury of women.
Her prize-winning book Three Strong Women is a moving account of the struggles of women in Europe and Africa. It tells the story of Norah, Fanta and Khadi's fight to "preserve their dignity in the face of humiliations that life has inflicted," according to her publisher Gallimard.