for Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, “in literature, we must trust the singularity”

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr felt a joy “simple and very deep“, but also a lot of recognition on learning that he had just received the Goncourt 2021, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in France.”I was invaded by many beautiful memories of my training, I thought of my family, my teachers“, he confides on the set of 20 hours, Wednesday 3 November. His book The Most Secret Memory men (ed. Philippe Rey), for which he was distinguished, could it be that of his career? “Intimately, each writer feels which book they’ve put the most of themselves into, but I can’t say it’s the one“, he replies.

The main character of The Most Secret Memory of Men (ed. Philippe Rey) is a young writer fascinated by another’s book, published in 1938, which overwhelms him. “It is almost a slightly sulphurous object, surrounded by very strong radiations, but that simply means that the experience of reading, when it is engaged with a large text, changes us profoundly. There is something magical about it, it’s kind of witchcraft, and I think every reader has experienced it.“, he explains.

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr also admits having a lot “played with caricatures, reductions and preconceptions even in literature“. For him, it must be”a space of freedom, where we can expect to be surprised, where we trust the singularity, without encompassing, without proceeding by abusive categorization“. The writer is therefore”laughed at those expectations“, especially when it applies to an author who”comes from a French-speaking area or who is black“.