Yambo Ouologuem's book "Lettre a la France Negre" is pictured in the family home in Sevare in Mali. Ouologuem, the first African writer to win the Renaudot prize in 1968, had it withdrawn following accusations of plagiarism. Photo: AFP
At the end of an abandoned field in Mali's war-ravaged Mopti region lies the overgrown tomb of Yambo Ouologuem, once a huge star of African literature whose career imploded in scandal after he was accused of plagiarism.
He was all but forgotten until last year when a young Senegalese writer won France's top literary prize for a novel inspired by Ouologuem's strange and tragic life.
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Yambo Ouologuem, African author
Yambo Ouologuem's book "Lettre a la France Negre" is pictured in the family home in Sevare in Mali. Ouologuem, the first African writer to win the Renaudot prize in 1968, had it withdrawn following accusations of plagiarism. Photo: AFP
Ambibe, son of author Yambo Ouologuem, reads a book by his father "Lettre a la France Negre" in the family home in Sevare. Photo: AFP
The central mosque where Yambo Ouologuem used to pray is pictured in Sevare. Photo: AFP
Amadou el-Hadj Yebedie, imam and one of Yambo Ouologuem's only friends, leaves the mosque where the author used to pray, in Sevare. Photo: AFP
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