The Alliance Française de Banjul is proud to host, for the second consecutive year, the writing residency for the “FESTHI”. FESTHI, an inter-school theater festival supported by the French Embassy in Senegal and Gambia, has been taking place in these two countries for four years. This festival provides a platform where thousands of students, from elementary to high school, perform plays written during a writing residency by French-speaking authors.
In April 2025, the writing residency will host three authors: Amina Jules Dia, Kouam Tawa, and Adebayo Adjaho. Throughout the month, these authors will draw inspiration from their Gambian discoveries to write plays on the theme “Create, Innovate, and Venture in French”, aimed at young Senegalese and Gambian students.
The written plays will be illustrated, edited, and distributed to the participating classes in Senegal and Gambia. This project, which promotes the French language, supports creation and innovation, while strengthening the cultural ties between the two countries.
Amina Jules Dia is a young Senegalese writer and photographer. Her first book, a fictional novel titled The Misunderstood She-Wolf, was published by L’Harmattan in 2023. She has participated in several creative and writing residencies, including the Villa Ndar residency at the French Institute of Saint-Louis (Senegal) and the one organized as part of the CINEFEMFEST.
She defines herself within a poetic space at the intersection of language and visual storytelling about the world. Amina has also exhibited her photographs in Toubab Dialaw and Saint-Louis (Senegal) and participated in several collective exhibitions such as “Living in Connection” and “Reset Yourself” in Dakar.