Amine Ben Aissa (born 1980) is a Tunisian-French writer. He goes by the
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
of Amine Al Ghozzi. Al Ghozzi went to university in Tunisia, and became a school teacher. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
.
As a writer, Al Ghozzi writes in both
standard Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also refe ...
and
Tunisian Arabic
Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
. His debut novel, ''Devil’s Shadow Behind my Picture'', appeared in 2013.
He won the
EU Prize for Literature
The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...
in 2021 for his book ZINDALI, THE NIGHT OF 14 JANUARY 2011.
He has also written poetry and song lyrics, among the latter the lyrics to the famous protest song ''
Kelmti Horra
''Kelmti Horra'' ( ar, كلمتي حرة, "My Word is Free") is the debut studio album by Tunisian Protest song, protest singer Emel Mathlouthi. It was released on January 24, 2012. The title track was written by Tunisian people, Tunisian writer Am ...
'', popularized by
Emel Mathlouthi
Emel Mathlouthi ( ar, آمال المثلوثي) also known as Emel, born 11 January 1982), is a Tunisian singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her protest song "Kelmti Horra" ("My Word is Free"), which became a ...
. As a filmmaker, and made two
short films
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
in his twenties, ''The Blackboard'' (2004) and ''Crossed Lives'' (2005).
He lives with his wife and two children in