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ABDELKADER BENALI (1975) born in Morocco, has lived in The Netherlands since 1979. He has written the successful theatre plays THE UNLUCKY ONE and YASSER. His daily reports from Lebanon during the recent war REPORTS FROM A BESEIGED CITY have been serialised in The Drawbridge. He has published 3 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.’
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
Material: Dutch edition (244 pp); 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 (239 pp), 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 (319 pp), 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;
Fennec World Arabic;
Sandesh Bangladesh;
Curtea Veche Romania.
Material: many editions (160 pages)