Cheikh Hamidou Kane featured in Roundtable on Senghor and Senegalese Writers

According to one Senegalese daily, the West African Research Center (WARC) Roundtable on Senghor and Senegalese writers was "a regular feast of intellectual exchanges among major artists, writers and men and women of culture.” The event, which took place on the afternoon of Thursday, January 11, 2007, drew a crowd of over 110 people including writers, critics, academics, reporters, researchers and students.

The roundtable, which focused on the legacy of the late Poet-President Leopold Sedar Senghor, featured world famous author Cheikh Hamidou Kane, author of the prizewinning novel Ambiguous Adventure and who also served as Director of the Department of Economic Planning and Development, Governor of the Region of Thiès, and Commissioner of Planning). Mr. Kane shared the table with Professor Amadou Ly, an academic and literary critic from University Cheikh Anta Diop, specialising in Francophone African Literature, the WARC Director Ousmane Sene, and WARA Board President Professor Maria Grosz-Ngate.

In his introductory remarks Cheikh Hamidou Kane underscored the leading role of the Center in the cultural vibrancy of the Senegalese capital. According to him "WARC was one of the very few places in Dakar where people could still gather to engage in rewarding intellectual exchanges".

He subsequently reminisced about Leopld Sedar Senghor—both as a man of letters and also as a president and political leader. Mr. Kane, who served as a high level administrator in the early governments of Senegal, also shared some personal observations on his relations with the first two Senegalese leaders, Senghor and Mamadou Dia.