This is a list of notable Algerian writers:

A

Ferhat Abbas Ferhat is a Turkish given name and the Turkish spelling of the Persian name Ferhad ( fa, فرهاد, ''farhād''). It may refer to: Given name Ferhad * Ferhad Ayaz (born 1994), Turkish-Swedish footballer * Ferhad Pasha Sokolović 16th-century Ott ...

(1899–1985), political leader and essayist *

Mohamed Aïchaoui Mohamed Aïchaoui (29 January 1921 - 1959) was an Algerian journalist and militant in the nationalist movement against French Algeria. Aïchaoui wrote the ''Declaration of 1 November 1954'', the National Liberation Front's first appeal to the A ...

(1921–1959), political leader and journalist * Salim Aïssa, pseudonym of Boukella, writer of detective fiction * Wasini al-A'raj (1954– ), novelist and short story writer *

Atif Ali Atif Ali (born 26 June 1984) is a Pakistani cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced ...

(1984– ) *

Abdelkader Alloula Abdelkader Alloula ar, عبد القادر علولة‎ (1939 in Ghazaouet, Algeria – March 14, 1994, in Oran, Algeria) was an Algerian playwright. He was assassinated by GIA terrorists. Biography Alloula was born in Ghazaouet in western ...

(1939–1994) *

Abderrazak Belagrouz Abderrazak Belagrouz ( ar, عبد الرزاق بلعقروز) is an Algerian academic writer who was born on 1981. He published more than 10 books and academic research. In 2019, Belagrouz won the young author award of Sheikh Zayed Book Award f ...

(1981– ), writer and scholar. *

Malek Alloula Malek Alloula (1937–2015) was an Algerian poet, writer, editor, and literary critic. He is chiefly notable for his poetry and essays on philosophy. He wrote several books, including ''Le Harem Colonial'' in 1981, translated into English as '' ...

(1937–2015), poet and critic * Djamal Amrani (1935–2005), poet and essayist *

Jean Amrouche Jean el Mouhouv Amrouche (7 February 1906 in Ighil Ali, Algeria – 16 April 1962 in Paris, France) was an Algerian francophone writer, poet and journalist. Biography Jean el Mouhouv Amrouche was born February 7, 1906, in Ighil Ali, in the v ...

(1907–1962), poet *

Marguerite Taos Amrouche Marie-Louise-Taos Amrouche (born 4 March 1913 in Tunis, Tunisia; died 2 April 1976 in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire, France) was an Algerian writer and singer. In 1947, she became the first Algerian woman to publish a novel. Biography She was ...

(1913–1976), writer and singer * Leila Aouchal (1937– ), novelist *

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day ...

(c. 124 – after 170) *

Mohammed Arkoun Mohammed Arkoun ( ar, محمد أركون; 1 February 1928 – 14 September 2010) was an Algerian scholar and thinker. He was considered to have been one of the most influential secular scholars in Islamic studies contributing to contemporary inte ...

(1928–2010) * Maya Arriz Tamza (1957– ), storyteller, novelist and playwright *

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

(354–430) *

Zighen Aym Zighen Aym (born 1957 in Kabylie in Algeria) is an Algerian writer and engineer. After graduating with an engineering degree in the United States in 1982, he went back to his native Algeria and worked as a maintenance engineer in the Sahara for S ...

(1957– )

B

* Fatima Bakhaï (1949– ) * Azouz Begag (1957– ), social scientist and novelist * Rabah Belamri (1946–1995), poet, short story writer and critic *

Farida Belghoul Farida Belghoul (born 1958) is a French author of Algerian descent who was raised in France. She was the main spokesperson for the second March for Equality and Against Racism which took place throughout France in 1984. Her novel ''Georgette!' ...

(1958– ) *

Omar Belhouchet Omar Belhouchet (born 9 February 1954 in Sétif) is an Algerian journalist who is renowned for his investigative reporting and supporting freedom of the press; his work and persistence have received international recognition. During the civil w ...

(1954– ) *

Myriam Ben Myriam Ben (10 October 1928 – 2001) was an Algerian activist, novelist, poet, and painter. Early life Marylise Ben Haïm was born in Algiers on October 10, 1928. Her father Moses Ben Haïm was of Judaized Berber descent and was a communist ...

(1928–2001), novelist, poet and activist * 'Abdelhamid Ben Hadouga (1928–1996), novelist and short story writer *

Latifa Ben Mansour Latifa Ben Mansour ( ar, لطيفة بن منصور) (born 1950 in Tlemcen) is an Algerian writer, psychoanalyst, and linguist. Her work deals with issues such as the role of women in Algerian society, Islamic extremism, storytelling, trauma, and me ...

(1950– ), writer and linguist *

Mohammed Benchicou Mohammed Boualem Benchicou ( ar, محمد بنشيكو) (born 1952 in Miliana, Aïn Defla Province) was the director and publisher of the Algerian newspaper '' Le Matin ( en, the sunrise)'', closed in August 2006. Career In 1989, he was one of ...

(1952– ) *

Salah Benlabed Salah Benlabed (born 1950) is an Algerian architect, academic, novelist and poet. Formerly a professor of architecture at the University of Algiers, he has been based in Montreal for more than a decade. He has designed numerous architectural projec ...

(1950– ) *

Malek Bennabi Malek Bennabi (1 January 1905 – 31 October 1973) ( ar, مالك بن نبي) was an Algerian writer and philosopher, who wrote about human society, particularly Muslim society with a focus on the reasons behind the fall of Muslim civilizatio ...

(1905–1973) *

Jacqueline Benslimane Jacqueline may refer to: People * Jacqueline (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jacqueline Moore (born 1964), ring name "Jacqueline", American professional wrestler Arts and entertainment * ''Jacqueline'' (1923 film), ...

, poet *

Réda Bensmaia Reda may refer to: * Reda (surname), list of people with the surname * Reda (given name), list of people with the given name * Reda, Poland, a town in Poland * Reda (river), a river in Poland * Reda railway station, a railway station in Reda, Polan ...

, novelist and critic * Albert Bensoussan, novelist, translator and academic * Fatiha Berezak, poet and performer *

Yve-Alain Bois Yve-Alain Bois (born April 16, 1952) is a professor of Art History at the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Education Bois received an M.A. from the École Pratique des Hautes Études in 1 ...

(1952– ) * Aïcha Bouabaci, poet and short story writer *

Rachid Boudjedra Rachid Boudjedra ( ar, رشيد بوجدرة) (b. 5 September 1941 in Aïn Beïda, Algeria) is an Algerian poet, novelist, playwright and critic. Boudjedra wrote in French from 1965 to 1981, at which point he switched to writing in Arabic, often ...

(1941– ), writer and educator *

Nina Bouraoui Yasmina "Nina" Bouraoui (Arabicنينا بو راوي, born 1967) is a French novelist and songwriter born in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine to an Algerian father from the town of Jijel and a French mother. She spent the first fourteen years of he ...

(1967– ), novelist * Hocine Bouzaher (1935– ), poet, politician and editor

C

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

(1913–1960) *

Martianus Capella Martianus Minneus Felix Capella (fl. c. 410–420) was a jurist, polymath and Latin prose writer of late antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education. He was a nati ...

(410–420 CE) *

Mehdi Charef Mehdi Charef (born 21 October 1952) is a French film director and screenwriter of Algerian descent. He has worked on eleven films between 1985 and 2007. His film '' Le thé au harem d'Archimède'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard sectio ...

(1952– ) *

Mohamed Cherak Mohamed Cherak ( ar, محمد شراق; 14 August 1977 – 17 November 2018) was an Algerian journalist and editor-in-chief. Early life Cherak was born in 1977 in the town of Hammadi, in the lower Kabylia region of Algeria, west of the Khachna ...

(1977–2018), journalist * Corinne Chevallier (1935– ) *

Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous (; ; born 5 June 1937) is a French writer, playwright and literary critic. She is known for her experimental writing style and great versatility as a writer and thinker, her work dealing with multiple genres: theater, literary an ...

(1937– ), feminist writer and critic

D

*, wrote the first play in Arabic (in 1847) *

Kamel Daoud Kamel Daoud ( ar, كمال داود; born June 17, 1970) is a French-Algerian writer and journalist. He currently edits the French-language daily '' Le quotidien d’Oran,'' for which he writes a popular column, "Raïna Raïkoum" (Our Opinion, Y ...

(1970– ), journalist and writer * Djamila Debèche (1926–2010), novelist and essayist *

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

(1930–2004), philosopher *

Mohammed Dib Mohammed Dib ( ar, محمد ديب; 21 July 1920 – 2 May 2003) was an Algerian author. He wrote over 30 novels, as well as numerous short stories, poems, and children's literature in the French language. He is probably Algeria's most prolific ...

(1920–2003), novelist and poet *

Tahar Djaout Tahar Djaout (11 January 1954 – 2 June 1993) was an Algerian journalist, poet, and fiction writer. He was assassinated in 1993 by the Armed Islamic Group. Early life He was born in 1954 in Oulkhou, a village in the Kabylie region. After unive ...

(1954–1993), journalist, poet and fiction writer *

Assia Djebar Fatima-Zohra Imalayen (30 June 1936 – 6 February 2015), known by her pen name Assia Djebar ( ar, آسيا جبار), was an Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker. Most of her works deal with obstacles faced by women, and she is noted fo ...

(1936–2015 ), Francophone writer, film-maker and academic

F

Nabile Farès Nabile Farès (25 September 1940 – 30 August 2016) was an Algerian-born French novelist. He was born in Collo, a part of Skikda Province, Algeria. Farès left his studies and prepared (in the camps in Tunisia) to fight against the French towards ...

(1940–2016) * Fadhila El Farouk (1967– ) *

Achour Fenni Achour Fenni (Arabic: عاشور فني) is an Algerian poet, translation, translator and academician, who has participated in several scientific, cultural and literary meetings in Algeria, North Africa, Europe, North America and South America. R ...

, poet and academic *

Mouloud Feraoun Mouloud Feraoun (8 March 1913 – 15 March 1962) was an Algerian writer and martyr of the Algerian revolution born in Tizi Hibel, Kabylie. Some of his books, written in French, have been translated into several languages including English and Ge ...

(1913–1962) *

Omar Fetmouche Omar Fetmouche ( ar, عمر فطموش) (born in Bordj Menaïel on 27 April 1955) is an Algerian artist, actor and playwright. Early life Fetmouche was born in 1955 in the town of Bordj Menaïel in lower Kabylia, and after having done his basi ...

(1955– ), artist * Touati Fettouma (1950– ), Francophone novelist of the Maghreb * Catherine Filloux

G

Fatima Gallaire Fatima Gallaire, née Bourega, (7 August 1944 – 15 September 2020) was a Franco-Algerian playwright and author of short stories, who wrote in French. Born in Algeria, she held a degree in French literature from the University of Algiers, a ...

(1944– ), playwright *

Salima Ghezali Salima Ghezali (born 1958) is an Algerian journalist and writer. A founding member of Women in Europe and the Maghreb, president of the association for the advancement of women, editor of the women's magazine ''NYSSA'', which she founded, and ed ...

(1958– ) * François Giuliani (1938–2009) * Anna Greki, pseudonym of Colette Anna Grégoire (1931–1966), poet *

Faïza Guène Faïza Guène (born 7 June 1985) is a French writer and director, best known for her two novels, ''Kiffe kiffe demain'' and ''Du rêve pour les oufs''. She has also directed several short films, including ''Rien que des mots'' (2004). Biography ...

(1985– )

H

Malek Haddad Malek Haddad (born in Constantine, Algeria on 5 July 1927; died in Algiers on 2 June 1978) was an Algerian poet and writer in the French language. Partial bibliography * ''Le Malheur en danger'' (poems), La Nef de Paris, 1956; Bouchène, 1988 ( ...

(1927–1978), novelist and poet *

Mohamed Harbi Mohamed Harbi (born June 16, 1933) is an Algerian historian who was a member of the National Liberation Front (Algeria), FLN during the Algerian War of Independence. Mohamed Harbi was born in 1933 into a wealthy family in El Harrouch, Algeria. At ...

(1933– ) *

Mohamed Hassaïne Mohamed Hassaïne ( ar, محمد حساين) (born in Beni Amrane on 5 January 1945, and died in Larbatache on 28 February 1994) was an Algerian journalist. Early life Hassaïne was born in 1945 in the village of Azela, Boumerdès, Azela within ...

(1945–1994), journalist

K

Yasmina Khadra Mohammed Moulessehoul ( ar, محمد مولسهول; born January 10, 1955), better known by the pen name Yasmina Khadra ( ar, ياسمينة خضراء), is an Algerian author living in France, who writes in French. One of the most famous Alger ...

(1955– ) * Aïssa Khelladi

L

Djanet Lachmet Djanet Lachmet (born 1948) is an Algerian novelist and actress. Life Djanet Lachmet was born in a small town in Algeria. Forced into marriage at sixteen, she divorced three months later. Wanting to be a comedian, she studied drama for four years ...

Alec G. Hargreaves, ''Immigration and identity in Beur fiction: voices from the North African immigrant community in France''. Berg, 1997 (p. 174) * Aicha Lemsine (1942– ), novelist

M

Ahmed Mahsas Ahmed Mahsas (November 17, 1923 – February 24, 2013) was an Algerian militant in the nationalist movement against French Algeria. Early life Ahmed Mahsas was born on 17 November 1923 in Boudouaou, Kabylia (now Boumerdès). He grew up in the ...

(1923–2013), political leader and sociologist *

Mouloud Mammeri Mouloud Mammeri () was an Algerian writer, anthropologist and linguist. Biography He was born on December 28, 1917, in Ait Yenni, in Tizi Ouzou Province, French Algeria. He attended a primary school in his native village, then emigrated to ...

(1917–1989), Kabyle writer, anthropologist and linguist *

Leïla Marouane Leïla Marouane (born in 1960) is a Tunisian-born French Algerian journalist and creative writer. Leïla Marouane is a pseudonym; her full name is Leyla Zineb Mechentel. She is an author of novels and short fiction which have received a numbe ...

(1960– ) *

Fodil Mezali Fodil Mezali ( ar, فضيل مزالي) (born in Thénia on 23 April 1959) is an Algerian journalist, editor-in-chief and managing editor. Early life Mezali was born in 1959 in the town of Thénia in the lower Kabylia region of Algeria, east ...

(1959– ), journalist and writer * Hocine Mezali (1938– ), journalist and writer *

Rachid Mimouni Rachid Mimouni (In Arabic:رشيد ميموني) (20 November 1945 – 12 February 1995) was an Algerian writer, teacher and human rights activist. Mimouni wrote novels describing Algerian society in a realist style. He was threatened by Is ...

(1945–1995), writer, teacher and activist *

Mohamed Missouri Mohamed Missouri ( ar, محمد ميسوري; 7 December 1947 – 29 June 2015) was an Algerian amateur boxer and coach. Early life Missouri was born in 1947 in the village of Merchicha within the Col des Beni Aïcha region, in the east of th ...

(1947–2015), writer, boxer and coach *

Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Maqqarī al-Tilmisānī (or al-Maḳḳarī) (), (1577-1632) was an Algerian scholar, biographer and historian who is best known for his , a compendium of the history of Al-Andalus which provided a basis for the scholar ...

(1578–1632) *

Si Mohand Si Mohand ou-Mhand n At Hmadouch, also known as Si Mhand, (Icerɛiwen, Tizi Rached, about 1848 - Ain El Hammam, 28 December 1905) was a widely known Berber-Amazigh poet from Kabylie in Algeria. Called the "Kabyle Verlaine" by French scholars, his wo ...

(1848–1905) * Malika Mokeddem (1949– ) *

Ahlam Mostaghanemi Ahlem Mosteghanemi ( ar, أحلام مستغانمي), alternatively written Ahlam Mosteghanemi (born 1953) is an Algerian writer who has been called "''probably the world's best-known Arabophone woman novelist''". She was the first Algerian wom ...

(1953– ), novelist

O

* Mohammed Ould Cheikh (1905–1938), poet and novelist

R

Pierre Rabhi Pierre Rabhi (born Rabah Rabhi; 29 May 1938 – 4 December 2021) was a French writer, farmer, and environmentalist. Originally a Muslim, he converted to Christianity before abandoning that religion as well. Rabhi studied in France, and is consi ...

(1938– ) *

Nabila Ramdani Nabila Ramdani is a French freelance journalist of Algerian descent who specialises in Anglo-French issues, Islamic affairs, and the Arab world. Life and work Ramdani has an MPhil in International History from the London School of Economics with ...

* Leila Rezzoug (1956– ), novelist *

Emmanuel Roblès Emmanuel Roblès (4 May 1914 in Oran, French Algeria – 22 February 1995 in Boulogne, Hauts-de-Seine) was a French author. He was elected a member of the Académie Goncourt in 1973. He was one of many influential "pied-noir" of his time. The ...

(1914–1995)

S

Boualem Sansal Boualem Sansal ( ar, بوعلام صنصال; born 15 October 1949) is an Algerian author. In 2012, he was named winner of the Prix du roman arabe, but the prize money was withdrawn due to Sansal's visit to Israel to speak at the Jerusalem Write ...

(1949– ) novelist *

Leïla Sebbar Leïla Sebbar (born 1941) is a French-Algerian author. Early life Leïla Sebbar was born on 9 November 1941, in Aflou. The daughter of a French mother and an Algerian father, she spent her youth in French Algeria before leaving aged seventeen fo ...

(1941– ), novelist * Jean Sénac (1926–1962), poet *

Othmane Senadjki Othmane Senadjki ( ar, عثمان سناجقي) (born in Khemis El Khechna on 23 May 1959 and died in Béni Messous on 29 December 2010) was an Algerian journalist and editor-in-chief of El Khabar newspaper. Early life Senadjki was born in 1959 ...

(1959–2010), journalist *

Benjamin Stora Benjamin Stora (born 2 December 1950) is a French historian, expert on North Africa, who is widely considered one of the world's leading authorities on Algerian history. He was born in a Jewish family that left the country following its War of ...

(1950– )

T

* Wassyla Tamzali (1941– ) *

Habib Tengour Habib Tengour (born March 29, 1947) is a French-Algerian poet, sociologist and anthropologist. He was born in Mostaganem in eastern French Algeria in 1947. The Tengour family moved to France when Habib was five years old, and he grew up there in ...

(1947– ) * Kahina Temzi (2003– )

W

* al-Tāhir Wattar (1936–2010), novelist

Y

Kateb Yacine Kateb Yacine (; 2 August 1929 or 6 August 1929 – 28 October 1989) was an Algerian writer notable for his novels and plays, both in French and Algerian Arabic, and his advocacy of the Berber cause. Biography Kateb Yacine was officially b ...

(1929–1989), novelist and playwright

Z

Moufdi Zakaria Moufdi Zakaria (born Zekri Cheikh; 12 June 1908 – 17 August 1977) was an Algerian activist and nationalist , poet and writer. He wrote "Kassaman", the Algerian national anthem while in prison in 1955. Biography Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Y ...

(1908–1977) * Salem Zenia (1962– ) * Mohammed Chaouki Zine (1972– ) * Ahmed Zitouni (1949– ), novelist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Algerian Writers *

Algerian writers Algerian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Algeria * Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, econo ...

Algerian Algerian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Algeria * Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, econo ...