Waciny Laredj (Arabic: واسيني الأعرج, pronounced Wasini al-A'raj) (born 8 August 1954) is an Algerian novelist, short story writer and academic.

Biography

Laredj was born in

Sidi Bou Jnan ''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Without the first person possessiv ...

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

province. He obtained a BA in

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / 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 (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

from the

University of Algiers The University of Algiers 1 (), commonly called Benyoucef Benkhedda, is a public research university based in Algiers, Algeria. Founded in 1909 from the amalgamation of different French colonial educational institutions, it has become the oldes ...

and then went off to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to pursue postgraduate studies, aided by a government scholarship. He obtained an MA and a PhD from the

University of Damascus A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. 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 The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a coup negating an Islamist electoral victory) to 8 ...

in the 1990s forced Laredj to leave the country. After a short time in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, he moved to France and joined the faculty of the

Université Paris III-New Sorbonne The Sorbonne Nouvelle University (, also known as Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle and the Sorbonne) is a public liberal arts and humanities university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the hi ...

, where he taught Arabic literature. As a writer, Laredj is well known throughout the Arabic- and French-speaking countries . 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. He translated himself some of his books into French. At least two of his books were available in French before they were available in Arabic. Laredj and his wife

Zineb Laouedj Zineb is the chemical compound with the formula n. Structurally, it is classified as a coordination polymer and a dithiocarbamate complex. This pale yellow solid is used as fungicide. Production and applications It is produced by treating ethylene ...

, have collaborated on an anthology on

African literature African literature is literature from Africa, either Oral literature, oral ("orature") or written in African languages, African and Afro-Asiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of Precolonialism, pre-colonial African literature can be ...

in French, titled ''Anthologie de la nouvelle narration africaine''. In the past, Laredj has produced literary programmes for Algerian television. He has also contributed a regular column to the Algerian newspaper

El Watan (Arabic language, Arabic: الوطن, "The Homeland") is an independent French-language newspaper in Algeria. History and profile The paper was founded in 1990 after Omar Belhouchet and nineteen colleagues left the National Liberation Front ( ...

Awards and honors

* 2007

Sheikh Zayed Book Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award presented yearly to writers, intellectuals, publishers whose writings and scholarly publications contributed to Arab cultural, literary and social life. The award has been described as “the Arab ...

for Literature, winner for ''The Prince's Book: The Paths of the Wooden Gates'' * 2011

International Prize for Arabic Fiction The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) (), also known as "the Arabic Booker", is regarded as the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing ...

, longlisted for البيت الأندلسي (The Andalucian House) * 2014 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, longlisted for رماد الشرق (Ashes of the East) * 2015

Katara Prize for Arabic Novel The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Doha-based Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest liter ...

, inaugural winner of the grand prize valued at $260,000 for ''Butterfly Kingdom'' * 2023 Great Arab Mind Award for Literature and Art, in recognition of his outstanding literary contributions.

Personal life

Laredj is married to the poet Zineb Laouedj. They have two children.

Selected works

* ''al-Bawwaba al-Zarqa'' (''The Blue Gate'', 1980) * ''Waqa'i min Awja Rajulin Ghamara Sawb al-Bahr'' (''Facts from the Sufferings of a Man Who Ventured Toward the Sea'', 1981) * ''Waq al-Ahdhiya al-Khashina'' (''The sound of the rough shoes'', 1981) * ''Ma tabaqqa min Sirat Lakhdar Hamrush'' (''What Remains from the Biography of Lakhdar Hamrush'', 1982), * ''Nuwwar al-Lawz'' (''Almond Blossoms'', 1983) * ''Masra Ahlam Maryam al-Wadi'a'' (''The Death of Tender Maryam's Dreams'', 1984) * ''Asmak al-Barr al-Mutawahhish'' (''The fish of the wild land'', 1986) * ''Damir al-Gha'ib'' (1990) * ''Faji'at al-Layla al-Sabi'a ba'd al-Alf, Raml al-Maya'' (''The Disaster of the Seventh Night after the One Thousand Night, Raml al-Maya'', 1993) * ''La Gardienne des ombres. Don Quichotte à Alger'' (''Protector of the Shadows: Don Quixote in Algiers'', 1996; ''Harisat al-Dhilal, Don Quishotte fi’l-Jaza’ir'', 1999) * ''Les Miroirs de l’aveugle'' (''The Mirrors of the Blind Man''; ''Maraya al-Darir'', 1998) * ''al-Makhtuta al-Sharqiyya'' (''The Eastern Manuscript'', 2002) * ''Kitab al-Amir: masalik abwab al-hadid'' (''The Prince’s Book: The Paths of the Wooden Gates'', 2004) * ''Al-Bayt al-Andalusi'' (''The Andalusian House'', 2011) * ''Mamlakatu al farasha'' (''The kingdom of the butterfly'', 2013) * ''Nissaou Casanova'' (''Casanova's women'', 2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laredj, Waciny Algerian novelists Algerian male short story writers People from Tlemcen Province 1954 births Damascus University alumni Living people University of Algiers alumni Academic staff of the University of Algiers Academic staff of the University of Paris 20th-century Algerian writers