Machaho Tellem Chaho

For ‪#‎ CrimeFiction‬ fans: The Strangler of Algiers (L’étrangleur d’Alger) by Azdine published at Apic éditions (Apic Noir) in 2010 (183 p.) The niece of the minister has been found strangled in the lavatories of her university. Just as Inspector Ben is called to investigate, another victim is found strangled. A serial murderer is on the loose in Algiers and he seems only interested in the daughters of privileged families. Soon after the fourth victim, Inspector Ben unders tands what links these young women. All the victims were once in class together in high school and all were friends with Hayet, a young girl whose suspicious death was too quickly declared as a suicide. Has Hayet's father, Billel Medfoun, resurfaced to avenge his daughter? A fun read and another addition to Algerian Crime Fiction . For more info on the latest Algerian Literature follow Litt DZ .

Here is Literature DZ 's round up of the literary month's highlights and new releases in Algeria : Click here to download the PDF Hover over icons to be redirected to a book's description or review.

Algerian novelist Assia Djebar passed away one year ago, on 6 February 2015. Her novel Le Blanc d'Algérie (translated as Algerian White by David Kelley and Marjolihn De Jager) remains one of her must read.

Here are some citations taken from Algerian novelist Tahar Wattar's The Candle and the Corridors : "The candle is small, oh my lord, the passages are big, oh my lord, but light is strong..."  "A man is a passageway and a woman the candlelight..." The artwork used is that of Baya Mahieddine , the great Algerian painter.

Last fall, Algerian novelist Rachid Bouxerroub won the Assia Djebar prize for Best Fiction in Tamazight for his novel Tislit n’oughanim (The Bride of Reeds). The Bride of Reeds is a reference to the small puppet-like toys young girls make from little reed sticks, dress up, and play the bride. Bouxerroub says the name seemed fitting for a story he centred around Fafuc [pronounced Fafush], a young woman in post-independence Algeria who had no control over her own destiny, like an inanimate doll, until she rebelled. This article first appeared on Arab Literature in English. To read the entire article continue here .

The following is a translation of my exchange with the author which was conducted in French. The original appears below.  Zehira Houfani is an Algerian writer who started publishing in the 80s. She published two detective novels among which “ Pirates of the Desert ” in 1986, a story set in Tamanrasset ( Les pirates du desert ) . Few women have written crime fiction in Algeria, in Arabic or in French. Zehira Houfani is one of them and she might even be the first to have published a detective novel in DZ. She now lives in Canada, and from there, she kindly answered a few questions about her experience as a writer in Algeria at the time, and about her detective novel Pirates of the Desert . What brought you to crime fiction initially and what inspired you to write not one detective novel but four of them, two published and two manuscripts? I guess my readings led me to it. This was at least the case for my first novel. Later, two factors encouraged me to pursue this...

While sex, drugs and pizzas have been stable story elements in Algerian novels over the past decade (for pizzas, read Chawki Amari), a prominent place given to smoking seems relatively new to me in our fiction as far as my readings go. Algerian novelist Fatma Zohra Zamoum has given an amusing and original twist to this ever present, highly enjoyed, and deadly social activity. Read the full review on Arabic Literature in English .

In 2015, Algerian literature was marked by great authors. Find out what these novels were and who their authors are on Arab Lit in Literature : 2015 in Algerian Literature: Five to Watch

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 ....  

Yacine and Adel are two old friends on their way to work. Yacine, the dreamer of the two, works for a museum in Algiers about to get closed because of lack of funds. He is on his way to a difficult meeting with the museum director, Mr Yousfi, an old and gentle man desperately trying to save the museum. Adel, always cautious and down to earth, works in a bank and promises to try and think of something that might raise some funds. The two friends meet after work to go and grab a bite to eat but Yacine receives a phonecall from Yousfi who asks him to come urgently. The Minister of Culture's decision regarding the museum's affairs is about to fall: it will be closed and not even a private venture can save it. Yacine and Adel make their way to the museum, where Yacine goes off to meet with Yousfi, while Adel waits for them and wanders off in the various private rooms usually closed to public view. He enters a fully furnished medieval style bedroom, hangs his coat on a...

The 20 th edition of Algiers’ International Book Fair is about to open its doors for a week between 29 October to 7 November. During a press conference held on 25 October to help publicise the event - and which was live-tweeted - #SILA2015’s Commissioner, M. Hamidou Messaoudi, communicated some important, and some strange, information on the event’s scope and structure. Here are some press conference highlights.   Numbers The guest of honour this year is France, who is said to have invited a number of high flying speakers, and has organised a special series of activities to mark its very own special edition. 53 countries in all will participate to the event, and 25 thousand titles will be made available. Priority has been given to new releases we are told, and to university and scientific publications. The Commissioner highlighted that, this year, 54% of exhibitors are Algerians, possibly in comparison to a majority of foreigners in previous years o...