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Driss Chraïbi

Biography

Driss Chraïbi was born in El Jadida in 1926. After schooling in Casablanca, he went to France, where he studied chemistry. He moved permanently to France in 1945. He tried various jobs, though ended up as an engineer, before becoming a successful writer. Since that time, he has worked both as a journalist and as a teacher. His first novels attacked both the power structure in Morocco as well as France’s attitude towards its immigrants. His later novels, many of them bitter, continue this attack, particularly the ones featuring Inspector Ali, who is an alter ego for Chraïbi, and, while nominally a police detective, is also used for Chraïbi’s continuing criticism of the power structure both in Morocco (and, indeed, elsewhere in Africa) and in France. He died in 2007.

Other links

Driss Chraïbi
Driss Chraïbi (in French)
Driss Chraïbi (in French)
Driss Chraïbi (in French)
Driss Chraïbi (in French)
Driss Chraïbi: à la recherche de l’enfance de l’Islam (in French)
Driss Chraïbi, définitivement libre (in French)
Interview (in French)

Bibliography

1954 Le Passé simple (The Simple Past)
1955 Les Boucs (The Butts)
1956 L’âne
1958 De tous les horizons
1961 La Foule
1962 Succession ouverte (Heirs to the Past)
1967 Un Ami viendra vous voir
1972 La Civilisation ma mère! (Mother Comes of Age)
1975 Mort au Canada
1981 Une enquête au pays (Flutes of Death)
1982 La Mère du printemps (Mother Spring)
1986 Naissance à l’aube (Birth at Dawn)
1991 L’Inspecteur Ali (Inspector Ali)
1992 Contes pour enfants
1993 Une Place au Soleil
1995 L’Homme du livre (Muhammad)
1995 L’Inspecteur Ali à Trinity College
1996 L’Inspecteur Ali et la CIA
1998 Lu, vu, entendu (memoirs)
2001 Le Monde à côté (memoirs)
2004 L’homme qui venait du passé