Machaho Tellem Chaho

The longlist for the 2020 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) has just been announced, revealing that out of 16 longlisted novels no less than 4 are by Algerian writers this year. They are The Spartan Court by Abdelouahab Aissaoui , The stairs of Tolar by Samir Kacimi , The mingling of seasons by Bachir Mefti, and Firewood of Sarajevo by Said Khatibi . This longlist also includes novels by authors from other North African countries: Al-Mutanabbi’s Rabat by Hassan Aourid (Morocco),  The Golden Hamam by Mohammed Eissa al-Mu’adab (Tunisia), The War of the Gazelle by Aisha Ibrahim (Libya), and two novels from Egypt, The Last Days of the Pasha by Rasha Adly and Fardeqan – the Detention of the Great SheikhYoussef Ziedan. The other authors are from the Middle East with Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia ( see full list here ). IPAF was launched in 2007 and describes itself as " the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world ...

Finding out what fiction gets published and by whom in Algeria is a tough task, from afar especially, but more and more publishing houses have opened facebook pages and keep them (more or less) updated with their latest publications, and with the events to which their writers go. I have to say that there is no one doing a better job of promoting a novel than their author - writers are still badly let down on that front. Even if these publishing houses are on FB, they can be a pain to track down, and so I wanted to share the list of those I regularly check. I believe this list represents a small number of the Algerian publishing houses out there, especially for Arabic and Tamazight. Some publishers are tiny, self-financed by writers, and these tend to be less vocal or visible, and appear and disappear. But those shared here are some of the most active (at the time of writing this post!). Some of them have websites but they are useless, even the heavy weight Barzakh neglects its ...

 (photo credit: Yacine Bouaziz ) Every Friday, for the past 38 weeks*, men and women with their children have been peacefully demonstrating in Algeria, reclaiming public space and demanding a complete overhaul of the political landscape. In the country, these demonstrations are described as part of a larger whole: the " hirak " (less often harak ), 'the movement'.  It was of course only a matter of time before the hirak became the main subject in books. So far, non-fiction leads with analyses and commentaries of this nationwide movement, written in Arabic and French, by single authors or collectives, published as early on as May 2019 (demonstrations began on 16 February 2019). The hirak has also crossed into poetry and fiction. Khaled Ben Salah's poetry collection " diary of an African man who wears a floral shirt and smokes L&M's in the time of the revolution " was published by El Mutawassit editions in October (see an excerpt...

It's Algiers' International Bookfair season at the moment in Algeria, the famed SILA which takes place yearly at the end of October-beginning of November. This means it's 'the' time of year for new book releases. For Algerian publishing houses, October is very much a 'Super Thursday' equivalent. The autumn is the season when new titles get released to coincide with the boost the Bookfair gives to books. As a result, titles for fiction abound in that period, in Arabic, French, and Tamazight, bringing both new and known authors' voices to the fore.  I have always found it impossible to keep a full record of the titles released by Algerian authors at that time of year, there are so many (thankfully). Nonetheless, here is a list of the new titles I have come across, released in 2019, most of them since September. Al Mutawassit editions: Amara Lakhous - طير الليل Samir Kacimi - سلالم  ترولار ...