Assia Djebar

Assia Djebar
آسيا جبار

Assia Djebar in 1992.
Born Fatima-Zohra Imalayen
30 June 1936 (1936-06-30) (age 75)
Cherchell, Algeria
Occupation novelist, essayist, professor
Nationality  Algeria
Alma mater École Normale Supérieure
Subjects feminism
Notable work(s) La Soif, Les Impatients, Les Enfants du Nouveau Monde, Les Alouettes Naïves
Notable award(s) Neustadt International Prize for Literature, Yourcenar Prize

Assia Djebar is the pen-name of Fatima-Zohra Imalayen (born 30 June 1936), an Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker. Most of her works deal with obstacles faced by women, and she is noted for her feminist stance. Djebar is considered to be one of North Africa's pre-eminent and most influential writers. She was elected to the Académie française on 16 June 2005, the first writer from the Maghreb to achieve such recognition.

Contents

Early life

Djebar was born in Cherchell, a coastal town near Algiers from Berber descent. Her family lived in a little village nearby called Mouzaïaville. There, she attended the primary school where her father taught French. She later attended a boarding school in Blida. In 1955, Djebar became the first Algerian woman to be accepted at the École Normale Supérieure, an elite Parisian college.

Career

In 1957, she published her first novel, La Soif ("The Thirst"). Fearing her father's disapproval, she had it published under the pen name Assia Djebar. Another book, Les Impatients, followed the next year. Also in 1958, she and Ahmed Ould-Rouïs began a marriage that would eventually end in divorce.

In 1962, Djebar published Les Enfants du Nouveau Monde, and followed that in 1967 with Les Alouettes Naïves. She remarried in 1980, to the Algerian poet Malek Alloula. The couple lives in Paris, France.

In 2005, Djebar was accepted into the Académie Française, a prestigious institution tasked with guarding the heritage of the French language.

She is currently a professor of Francophone literature at New York University.

Awards

In 1996, Djebar won the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature for her contribution to world literature. The following year, she took home the Yourcenar Prize. Djebar has also consistently been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Works

Cinema

Analysis

« Immortelle » Éditorial. In: Le Monde, Samedi 18 juin 2005, p 17

External links

Preceded by
Georges Vedel
Seat 5
Académie française
2005-
Succeeded by
incumbent