Machaho Tellem Chaho

Just discovered Algerian author Ryad Girod and his second novel The end that awaits us (La Fin qui nous attend), a novel set during an earthquake, published in French, in November 2015 by Barzakh editions. If you read French, here's my review of the book on Huff Post Algeria : "La Fin qui nous attend" de Ryad Girod.

In order to try to support and promote Algerian literature and its contemporary production, and to attempt to give it some visibility in English, I just created the FB page Litt DZ to help anyone interested in Algerian literature find out what gets published here. FB : LitDZ Twitter : @Litt_DZ

Interested in Algerian myths and legends ? Here is a discussion around Zoubeida Mameria ’s three-volume collection of Algerian myths,  Tales from the Land of Algeria ( Contes du Terroir Algerien , 2013 ) on Arabic Literature in English . * * * * * I am sitting on the steps outside my flat with Zoubeida Mameria ’s weighty three-volume collection of Algerian myths,  Tales from the Land of Algeria ( Contes du Terroir Algerien , 2013 )  on my lap. I am browsing through her collection, looking for a story involving plumbers. ADVERTISEMENT Mameria is from the central Algerian city of Souk Ahras and so, she says, are her stories. She warns in her introduction that she has chosen to recount “in an impressionistic manner” the tales her granddad and great aunts used to tell her. She qualifies her storytelling as impressionistic because she has not recorded the stories she was told. Instead, she is recrafting stories that she considers Algerian but that ...

If you're interested in the first Assia Djebar Prize ceremony, see my review of the event on Arab Literature in English .

  Algiers' International Bookfair, SILA, is now open until 7 November. Here are some highlights to be found on Arabic Litterature (in English) :     On October 25, SILA’s commissioner held a press conference to both publicize this year’s book fair and to highlight some important — and some strange — information on the event’s forthcoming scope and structure. Communicating the details of one of Africa’s largest book fairs just a few days before opening might seem last-minute, but it does have the merit of building up excitement and a thoroughly enjoyable chaos in a nation where last-minute always leaves us ample time to arrive late anyway. Continue reading here ....