Waciny Laredj is an Algerian writer and academic, who was born in 1954 in the village of Sidi Boujnane. He is a Professor at the Sorbonne University in Paris and the Central University of Algeria, having settled in Paris in 1994. Laredj is considered one of the most prominent writers in the Arab literary world today. He has written many novels dealing with Algeria’s history and its harsh upheavals. In recent years he has produced work on the tragedies of the Arab nation, questioning the sacred and static account of its history. His books are published in Arabic and French. Laredj is also a regular columnist for Al-Quds Al-Arabi. He has won a number of prizes for his work, including the Sheikh Zayed Prize for Literature in 2007. He has been longlisted for Arab book prize three times: in 2011 for The Andalusian House, in 2013 for Lolita’s Fingers, and in 2014 with Ashes of the East: the Wolf who Grew Up in the Wilderness. His book Mai: the nights of Isis Copia is nominated for the Arab booker prize of 2019.
