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Boualem Sansal

Biography

Boualem Sansal was born in Theniet El Had, Algeria in 1949. He trained as an engineer at the École nationale polytechnique d’Alger and also has a doctorate in economics. He worked as a teacher, consultant, manager and senior civil servant at the Ministry of Industry. He started writing in 1997 when the Algerian Civil War was in full swing to try and understand what was happening in Algeria. He published his first novel in 1999, which had considerable success. However his third novel was more controversial, as it criticised President Boumediene and was one of the reasons why he was dismissed from his post in the civil service. He continued to write novels, which were often criticised in Algeria for their political point of view. He has been highly critical of the rise of Islamisation in Algeria.

Other links

Boualem Sansal
Boualem Sansal (in French)
Boualem Sansal, l’écrivain que l’Algérie aime détester (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)

Bibliography

1986 La combustion dans les turboréacteurs (technical)
1989 La mesure de la productivité (technical)
1999Le Serment des barbares [The Oath of the Barbarians] (novel)
2000 L’Enfant fou de l’arbre creux (novel)
2001 La médiation dans l’art contemporain (art)
2001 La Voix (stories)
2003 Dis-moi le paradis (novel)
2004 La Femme sans nom (stories)
2005 Harraga (Harraga) (novel)
2006 La question linguistique en Algérie (language)
2006 Les Guerres d’Algérie (war)
2006 Poste restante Alger lettre de colère et d’espoir à mes compatriotes (essay)
2007 C’était quoi, la France (politics)
2007 Petit éloge de la mémoire quatre mille et une années de nostalgie (essay)
2008 Le aVillage de l’Allemand ou Le Journal des frères Schiller (UK: An Unfinished Business; US: The German Mujahid) (novel)
2011 Rue Darwin (novel)
2013 Gouverner au nom d’Allah islamisation et soif de pouvoir dans le monde arabe (essay)
2015 2084 la fin du monde (2084: The End Of The World) (novel)
2018 Le train d’Erlingen ou La métamorphose de Dieu (novel)
2020 Abraham ou la Cinquième Alliance (novel)
2024 Vivre (novel)