(pen name of Mariètou Mbaye Biléoma) is the Senegalese-born writer whose pen name means “one who is unwanted.” Her first novel, Le baobab fou [The Abandoned Baobab: The Autobiography of a Senegalese Woman], investigated post-colonial identity for a young African woman in Belgium. Bugul has headed the African region section of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, as well as convening writing workshops in underprivileged areas, and organizing other cultural outreach. In 1999 her novel Riwan ou le chemin de sable ['Riwan or the Sandy Track'] was awarded the Grand Prix Littéraire de l'Afrique Noire. La pièce d'or (2006) is her seventh novel. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
