Biography

Yamina Khadra is a very productive Algerian writer. He always felt like a writer, even though he was an officer in the Algerian army for 36 years. He was born in the Sahara Desert. His father was a male nurse and his mother was a nomad. In 1964 his father sent him to a military school in Algeria, where he discovered literature and his love for writing. He chose to write in French because his French teacher encouraged him and also because of the censorship of the Algerian authorities. He started with short stories in 1973 in a book called "Houria". In 1975 he joined the Military Academy of Cherchell, where he became on officer. He resigned from the army in 2000 because his writing activity was not compatible with his military duties. After producing a couple of books of short stories, he decided to write some thrillers, to take place during the dreadful years of terrorism in Algeria. He also created at the same time his alter ego, Commissaire Mohammed Llob, his personal spokesman for a present-day Algeria. He revealed his true name and story in his autobiography, "L'Ecrivain", in 2001. He explained that his nickname comes from his wife's surnames, because he admires the courage of women in general and of his wife in particular. The rights of his book "L'Attentat" ("The Attack") were bought by the producers of Brokeback Mountain (2005). His latest book, "Les Sirenes de Bagdad", is about the conflict in Iraq. Yasmina Khadra is now living in Aix en Provence in the south of France with his wife and three children.