abdelkader benali
Abdelkaber Benali

ABDELKADER BENALI (1975) born in Morocco, has lived in The Netherlands since 1979. He has written the successful plays THE UNLUCKY ONE and YASSER. REPORTS FROM A BESEIGED CITY, reportage from Lebanon, has been serialised in The Drawbridge. He has published three novellas, SUFI, MUNYA and THE IMMORTALITY ARTISTS and the book MARATHON RUNNER, of which De Volkskrant said: 'Benali can run really well and write incredibly beautifully. This slender book is so full of exciting ideas and sharp observations, existential doubt and great triumph, that Benali's words will stay with both runner and non-runner for a long time.' Benali’s latest novel is ZANDLOPER, just out in Holland, about a writer who goes to Morocco to a training camp for runners.


WINNER OF THE GEERTJAN LUBBERHUIZEN PRIZE; LIBRIS PRIZE; PREMIER ROMAN ETRANGER

 

www.abdelkaderbenali.nl

MY MOTHER’S VOICE (DE STEM VAN MIJN MOEDER)

A psychological drama about family ties. With his latest novel Benali goes back to the theme of his international best-selling first novel WEDDING BY THE SEA - that of immigrants stuck between two cultures. A photographer has carved himself a place amongst the cultural elite in the West. He hardly sees his parents, who moved from Morocco 25 years earlier. That changes when his father calls him and tells him his sick mother wants to see the photo album. Certain photos and her son’s presence by her side give his mother back the will to live and to speak again (she has been silent since the tragic death of the narrator’s twin brother 20 years earlier). The reliving of that tragedy has surprising consequences for all with long hidden family secrets revealed.

‘Benali has grown. This is a beautifully told story about fear of commitment, letting go and growing up, caged in a Cain and Abel tale of rival brothers.’ De Telegraaf

Sales

Arbeiderspers NL (March 2009)

Buybook Bosnia

chapter in Banipal

Material: Dutch edition (244pp); English sample chapters.

may the sun shine tomorrow (laat het morgen mooi weer zijn)
May The Sun Shine Tomorrow (Laat Het Morgen Mooi Weer Zijn

 

After his mother’s death, Malik finds himself aboard the S.S. Latina, whose faded glory serves as a backdrop to a shipboard romance with a much older, elegant and witty Spanish widow, Carmen Lopez de la Madrid. By the end, the S.S. Latina has worked its magic: Malik’s memories, his parents’ secrets and Carmen’s tales have been turned into a spellbinding adventure.

 

‘Abdelkader Benali belongs without doubt to the great Dutch authors.’ Financieel Dagblad

 

‘In this book it is obvious that there is definitely an authentic writer inside Benali.’ HP/De Tijd


Sales

Arbeiderspers NL

 

Fazi Italy

 

Teorema Portugal


Material: Dutch edition (239pp); Italian edition; English sample.

the long awaited (de langverwachte)
The Lone Awaited (De Landgverwachte)

WINNER OF THE LIBRIS PRIZE

 

An unborn child narrates from the womb of a young mother, waiting for the family to assemble before emerging. This literary roller coaster, in which successive generations dispute their differences, is a light-footed tale about wedding dresses that refuse to get married, an unsaleable butcher’s shop that is somehow sold all the same, and a man who can only fall asleep after he has seen fireworks.

 

‘His wealth of imagery and metaphor is always successful and captivating, often original. This novel offers not only a vivid picture of a community but that image is also presented in an impressive richness of language. Just as it should be in great literature.’ Jury report LIBRIS Prize

Sales

Vassallucci NL

 

Randomhouse Mondadori Spain

 

Fazi Editore Italy

 

Actes Sud France

 

Material: Dutch edition (319pp); Italian edition; Spanish edition; English sample.

wedding by the sea (bruiloft aan zee)
Wedding By The Sea (Bruiloft Aan Zee)

WINNER OF BEST DEBUT; WINNER OF GEERTJAN LUBBERHUIZEN PRIZE; WINNER OF PRIX DE MEILLEUR ROMAN ETRANGER IN France; SHORTLISTED FOR LIBRIS PRIZE

 

Winner of the Libris Prize, WEDDING BY THE SEA has been internationally praised. It won the Geertjan Lubberhuizen Prize for best first novel and the prestigious Prix de Meilleur Premier Roman Etranger in France.

 

'Vivid, mythic and heartfelt ... A tale of origins real and imagined, which, while it speaks of the departure, reaches always for the moment of return.' Financial Times

 

'Behind the marvellous and often farcical humour of this book is a frequently moving and arresting pathos, which juxtaposes two continents and the borderline places of their rendezvous with an uncommon skill and insight.' Chris Searle, Tribune

 

'Full of verve and hilarity, .. WEDDING BY THE SEA keeps you smiling on every page… Benali’s flair for story-telling is non-stop … He never pauses for breath.' Le Soir

 

'He chews on each word, he savours them with gusto. This comes through throughout – sparks of joy fly off.' NRC Handelsblad

Sales

Published by Vassallucci NL

 

Weidenfeld & Nicholson UK

 

Arcade US

 

Kedros Greece

 

Fremad Denmark

 

Albin Michel France

 

Piper Verlag Germany

 

Randomhouse Mondadori Spain

 

Teorema Portugal

 

Marcos y Marcos Italy

 

Babel Israel

 

Det Norske Samlaget Norway

 

Kronta Lithuania

 

Laguna Serbia

 

Centre Culturel Arabe World Arabic

 

Sandesh Bangladesh

 

Curtea Veche Romania

 

Material: many editions (160 pages).