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For French Language Month (Mois de la francophonie), Villa Albertine San Francisco presents an exciting discussion with author Felwine Sarr to explore contemporary African literature, new models of Francophone translation and publishing, and identity in a post-colonial world.  

Centered on Felwine Sarr’s Dahij—soon to be released in English for the first time by a new Seattle-based Francophone publisher—this groundbreaking debut is a moving meditation on identity, exile, and self-reclamation. Blending philosophy, memory, and poetic storytelling, Sarr explores what it means to belong in a world shaped by migration and colonial legacies, writing with urgency and intensity in pursuit of personal and intellectual freedom. Rooted in African traditions yet deeply universal, Dahij invites readers to listen closely to an African voice imagining the future on its own terms. 

This conversation will explore how geography, religion, and identity intersect and shape one another, while also considering how African literature travels—across languages, institutions, and global audiences. 

Felwine Saar 

Felwine Sarr is a Senegalese humanist, philosopher, economist, and musician, and the Anne-Marie Bryan Chair in French and Francophone Studies at Duke University. He is the author of Afrotopia, African Meditations and co-author of the influential report The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics, which has reshaped global debates on cultural restitution. Saar was named ArtReview’s third most influential person in the international art world in 2020, and was listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2021. 

Victor Reinking  

Professor Emeritus and former chair of French at Settle University, Victor Reinking has written extensively on 18th-century French and African literature. A contributing editor to Paradoxa, a literary journal that publishes articles on genre literature. He has contributed to multiple publications as both a writer and a translator.