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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
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
Arbeiderspers NL (March 2009)
Buybook Bosnia
chapter in Banipal
Material: Dutch edition (244pp); English sample chapters.
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
Arbeiderspers NL
Fazi Italy
Teorema Portugal
Material: Dutch edition (239pp); Italian edition; English sample.
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
Vassallucci NL
Randomhouse Mondadori Spain
Fazi Editore Italy
Actes Sud France
Material: Dutch edition (319pp); Italian edition; Spanish edition; English sample.
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
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).