Harraga

A Note on the Author

Boualem Sansal (b. 1949) is the author of six novels and various other books. His first novel Le Serment des barbares (The Barbarians’ Oath) won the 1999 Prix du Premier Roman. In 2003 he was dismissed from the civil service for criticising the Algerian government. Since the publication in 2006 of Poste restante: Alger. Lettre de colère et d’espoir à mes compatriotes (Poste restante: Letter of anger and hope to my compatriots) his books have been banned in his own country. Today he is considered not only one of Algeria’s most important writers, but also a literary figure of international stature. Le Village de l’allemand (translated into English as The German Mujahid) won France’s Grand Prix RTL LIRE 2008 and Belgium’s Grand Prix de la Francophonie 2008. In 2011 he was awarded the German Booksellers’ Peace Prize and in 2012 the Prix du Roman Arabe, but this prize money was withdrawn, despite protests from the jury, following his visit to Israel to speak at the Jerusalem Writers Festival. He lives in Boumerdès, near Algiers, with his wife.