Boualem Sansal

Boualem Sansal (1949- ) is an internationally acclaimed Algerian author.

Boualem Sansal was born in Algeria in 1949. Trained as an engineer with a doctorate in economics, he began writing novels at the age of 50 after retiring from his job as a high-ranking official in the Algerian government. The assassination of President Boudiaf in 1992 and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria inspired him to write about his country. [ [http://www.sonoma.edu/users/t/toczyski/BAFL03232006.shtml Bay Area Francophile List This Week! ] ]

Sansal writes in French and his work has won top literary awards in France, among them the Prix du Premier Roman in 1999. His debut novel was "Le serment des Barbares" (Gallimard, 1999), which has now been made into a film based on a screenplay by Jorge Semprúns. [ [http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?3602 culturebase.net | The international artist database | Boualem Sansal ] ]

Sansal's latest novel, "Le village de l'Allemand ou le journal des frères Schiller," is the story of two Algerian brothers who burrow into the past and discover that their father had been a Nazi officer who fled to Algeria after the war. The book explores the fine line between Islamic fundamentalism and Nazism. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948018.html Standing fast - Haaretz - Israel News ] ]

Sansal continues to live with his wife and two daughters in Algeria despite the controversy his books have aroused in his homeland. [ [http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?3602 culturebase.net | The international artist database | Boualem Sansal ] ] At the 2007 International Festival of Literature in Berlin, he was introduced as a writer "exiled in his own country." He claims that Algeria is becoming a bastion of Islamic extremism and the country is losing its intellectual and moral underpinnings. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948018.html Standing fast - Haaretz - Israel News ] ]

Since the publication of "Poste restante: Alger. Lettre de colère et d'espoir à mes compatriotes" in 2006, Sansal's books have been banned in Algeria. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948018.html Standing fast - Haaretz - Israel News ] ]

Published work

Novels:

1999 : Le Serment des barbares, Gallimard. Prix du premier roman 1999. Prix Tropiques, AFD, 19992000 : L'Enfant fou de l'arbre creux, Gallimard. Prix Michel Dard2003 : Dis-moi le paradis, Gallimard2005 : Harraga, Gallimard2008 : Le village de l'Allemand ou le journal des frères Schiller, Gallimard - Grand Prix RTL-Lire 2008, le Grand Prix de la francophonie 2008 -Prix Nessim Habif- (Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique).

hort stories:

2001 : La voix, Gallimard-Le Monde2005 : La vérité est dans nos amours perdues, in "Des nouvelles d'Algérie", ed Métailié2004 : La Femme sans nom. Littera et l’Aube.

2005 : Homme simple cherche évènement heureux, Le Monde.2005 : Tous les bonheurs ne valent pas le déplacement, Magazine des Beaux Arts.2006 : La Terrible nouvelle. Le Monde.

Essays:

2006 : Poste restante : Alger, lettre de colère et d'espoir à mes compatriotes, Gallimard2007 : Petit éloge de la mémoire, Gallimard

Technical literature:

1986 : La Combustion dans les turboréacteurs, OPU, Alger.1989 : La Mesure de la productivité, OPU, Alger

References