Machaho Tellem Chaho

Qal lek that during the fasting month of Ramadan, Shaytan, this much greater devil than Insan , gets chained up for the duration. This has for effect that in some unsought way, the human beings we are, are offloaded from his wickedness (that is not to say from all wickedness, only Shaytan's inspired own). Effectively, during the month of Ramadan, Shaytan is neutralised, out of circulation, pulled off the streets. Puff. And who would have thought that the combination of fasting and a lack of inspiration for evil doings could lead to: a very great street party. A great nocturnal fest, not only a feast, is taking place in Algiers nightly (this year and perhaps so for a long time) featuring all manners of concerts, museum tours, exhibitions, theatre plays on a wide array of themes, and open-air cinema. Not to mention sweet-cakes, mint tea and salty peanuts stalls, ice-cream parlours, brochettes vendors and various restaurants opened from dusk to dawn. This is mo...

I went to a debate during the International Festival of Literature and of Young People’s Literature ( FELIV ) in Algiers on the competing voices of official versions of History and factual's versions. I wrote the below for Arab Literature in English Translation and wanted to post it here to record it because this subject is the very reason why I have been looking into Algerian literature, why I think its role is so important, fragile and ultimately crucial. The (literary) writing of history” was the topic of Sunday, June 15′s discussion between French author and Goncourt prize winner Jean Rouaud ( Fields of Glory, 1990 ) and Algerian writer Abdelkader Djamai ( La Dernière nuit de l’Emir, 2012). France Culture producer Catherine Pont-Humbert aptly moderated the talk around the following questions: In the historical novels you’ve written, where was the frontier between what is lived and what is history? Rouaud was clear on this. For him, “every novel, exc...