Maïssa Bey
Biography
Maïssa Bey, whose real name is Samia Benameur, was born in 1950 near Algiers. She studied Romance languages and worked as a teacher. In the context of the bloody conflicts that swept her country during the so-called Black Decade (1992-2002), she began writing under her grandmother's name. Maïssa Bey, who describes herself as »Arab by birth, culture and language. And Muslim. Deeply shaped by Muslim culture and tradition«, chooses the form of expression of literature in order to be more than a mute, passive witness in the face of its violent and challenging contemporary history.
Last Released
Madame Lafrance
Madame Lafrance covers the 132-year history of Algeria under French colonial rule. In 25 pictures, the author draws the main stages from the landing of the French Armada on June 14, 1830 to the resistance led by Emir Abdel Kader to the bloody war of liberation (1954 - 1962), the rampage of the terrorist organization OAS and the proclamation of independence was accompanied by a flight of almost all Algerian French.
Nevertheless, the author does not convey the subject as a historian, but as a writer who knows how to deal playfully with words. Through history guides us the child, custodian of memory, is an observer of the situation and at the same time a cautious commentator who, over the decades, has taken up more and more of a position.
Translated from French by Christine Belakhdar
