Waciny Laredj

Who is Waciny Laredj?

Waciny Laredj is an Algerian novelist, short story writer and academic. He was born in Sidi Bou Jnan in Tlemcen province. He obtained a BA in Arabic literature from the University of Algiers and then went off to Syria to pursue postgraduate studies, aided by a government scholarship. He obtained an MA and a PhD from the University of Damascus.

Having finished his studies, he returned to Algeria and took up an academic position at his alma mater, the University of Algiers. He continued to teach there till 1994. The outbreak of civil war in Algeria in the 1990s forced Laredj to leave the country. After a short time in Tunisia, he moved to France and joined the faculty of the Université Paris III-New Sorbonne, where he taught Arabic literature.

As a writer, Laredj is well known throughout the Arabic- and French-speaking countries, although less so in the Anglophone world. Beginning in the early 1980s, he has published more than a dozen books. His novels often deal with the troubled history of his native Algeria. Several of his works have been translated into French. At least two of his books were available in French before they were available in Arabic.