Habib Selmi (
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 ...
: حبيب السالمي) (born 31 January 1951) is a
Tunisian novelist and short story writer.
[Profile on Banipal magazine website](_blank)
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Early life
He was born in Al-Ala
Al-Aʻlā ( ar, الأعلى, “The Most High”, “Glory To Your Lord In The Highest”) is the eighty-seventh chapter (''surah'') of the Qur'an, with 19 '' ayat'' or verses.
Al-A'la describes the Islamic view of existence, the Oneness of ...
near the historic city of Kairouan. To date, he has published eight novels and two short story collections.
Career
His books include:
* ''Jabal al-'Anz'' (''Goat Mountain''), 1988
* ''Surat Badawi Mayyit'' (''Portrait of a Dead Bedouin''), 1990
* ''Matahat al-Raml'' (''Sand Labyrinth''), 1994
* ''Hufar Dafi'a'' (''Warm Pits''), 1999
* ''Ushaq Bayya'' (''Bayya's Lovers''), 2002
* ''Asrar Abdallah'' (''Abdallah’s Secrets''), 2006
* ''Rawaïh Marie-Claire'' ('' The Scents of Marie-Claire''), 2008
* ''Nisāʾ al-basatīn ( The Women of al-Basatin),'' 2011
* ''Al-ishtīāq ilā al-jāra (Longing for the Woman Next Door),'' 2020
His work has been shortlisted three times for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) ( ar, الجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية) is the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world.
Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic ...
, in 2009 (for ''The Scents of Marie-Claire),'' 2012 (for ''The Women of al-Basatin),'' and 2021 (for ''Longing for the Woman Next Door)''.Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
since 1985, where he teaches Arabic literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...
.
References
1951 births
Tunisian novelists
Tunisian male short story writers
People from Kairouan Governorate
Living people
{{Tunisia-bio-stub