Contemporary Algeria: Yasmina Khadra

Yasmina Khadra is the pen name of the Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul (born January 10, 1955).

Moulessehoul, an officer in the Algerian army, adopted a woman's pseudonym to avoid military censorship. Despite the publication of many successful novels in Algeria, Moulessehoul only revealed his true identity in 2001 after leaving the army and going in France. Anonymity was the only way for him to survive . In 2004, Newsweek acclaimed him as "one of the rare writers capable of giving a meaning to the violence in Algeria today."

His novel set in Afghanistan under the Taliban The Swallows of Kabul was shortlisted for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. L'Attentat won the Prix des libraires in 2006, a prize chosen by about five thousand bookstores in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada.

Bibliography

Houria (1984)
La fille du pont (1985)
El Kahira (1986)
De l'autre côté de la ville (1988)
Le privilège du phénix (1989)
Le dingue au bistouri (1990)
La Foire des Enfoirés (1993)
Les agneaux du seigneur (1998)
Morituri (1997)
Double blanc (1998) (translated into English as Double blank)
L'automne des chimères (1998) (Autumn of the Phantoms)
À qui rêvent les loups (1999) (Wolf Dreams)
L'écrivain (2001)
L'imposture des mots (2002)
Les hirondelles de kaboul (2002) (The Swallows of Kabul); As andorinhas de Cabul (Sá Editora/Brasil, 2007)
Cousine K (2003)
La part du mort (2004)
L'attentat (2005); The Attack (2006); O atentado (Sá Editora, Brasil/2006)
Les sirènes de Bagdad (2006); As sirenas de Bagdá (Sá Editora/Brasil/2007)
In the Name of God

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MORITURI (Review)

Algeria today. A mysterious disappearance: the daughter of an important representative of the anciene regime. The investigation, with Inspector Llob in charge, leads to the description-analysis of a nation with on one side the fierceness of the integralists and the political-financial mafia on the other.

DOUBLE BLANC

Ben Ouda, former diplomat, once very powerful, is brutally assassinated in his house at Algiers. A few hours later, Abad Nasser, university professor, follows suit. The investigation establishes that the same commando of three men is implicated in the two murders. The reason? A mysterious document that could lead to devastating political repercussions which Ben Ouda wanted make public…

L'AUTOMNE AUX CHIMERES

Brahim Llob, the policeman-writer is summoned by the chief of Algerian police and is fired for having published... Morituri, a book considered dishonorable and full of lies. Following a trip back to his hometown victim of an attack by a GIA commando, Llob goes back to Algiers...

LE DINGUE AU BISTOURI

Algiers in winter. Brahim Llob answers the phone: a mysterious journalist tells him that there is going to be a murder… the first of a serial killer. Is he mad? A pervert with strange motivations? This is not what Llob thinks. Each death is coldly premeditated, accurately carried out. The man tortures his victims, cuts out their hearts and then places a black star on the body.

IN THE NAME OF GOD (Original title: LES AGNEAUX DU SEIGNEUR)

At Ghachimat, a small Algerian village where rancor fuels the collective memory, three friends try to become responsible adults - Allal Sidhom, 26, is a policemen; Kada Hilal, teacher, is a member of the Islamic Movement currently clandestine; Jafed Wahab finds it difficult to leave the village. After the prayer, the friends meet for a drink and try to forget the weight of tradition. Who will be first to get married? Who will seduce beautiful Sarah? At Ghachimat, love is hidden. During this time, people rebel, Algiers is at war. Allal marries Sarah and the entire village is invited. Kada, who loves her in secret, thinks he will no longer get over the disappointment and decides to follow the terrorist path. The village sees the arrival of the integralists violence and the reign of terror begins. Ghachimat plunges into fanatism and blood.

A QUOI REVENT LES LOUPS

Nafa Walid is a young Algerian of modest origin who dreams of an improbable international acting career. While waiting for glory he finds a job as driver of one of the most prestigious families in Algiers and discovers the totally corrupt universe of Algerian nomenclature. For these people, rich over and above imagination, laws do not exist…