French publisher Gallimard has returned to Algeria’s main book fair after a two-year ban over a novel caught in legal battles in both countries.
It was barred from the Algiers International Book Fair after publishing “Houris”, a novel by French-Algerian writer, Kamel Daoud.
He was accused of plagiarising a woman’s life using confidential information she gave her therapist, who is Daoud’s wife.
Gallimard’s representative in Algeria, Mohamed Bouhala Tabi, said despite the two year absence, people do not think there is **“**anything unusual” and are coming to the stand.
“They buy something and leave. Nobody has objected to anything or made any demands. Everything’s going well. We’ve got nothing to say,” he said.
The fair’s organisers did not say how Gallimard was able to return to the fair or why the ban ended.
Daoud was sentenced in absentia to three years in prison by an Algerian court last April and the book remains banned in the country.
In 2024, “Houris” was awarded France’s top literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.
It tells the story of a woman who loses her voice when an Islamist cuts her throat during Algeria’s 1990s war.
A former patient of Daoud’s wife, has sued him in both France and Algeria over several alleged similarities between her and the novel’s protagonist.
Saada Arbane said this included their breathing tube, slashed throats, identical scar, tattoos, and a hair salon they both owned.
Daoud, who lives in France and writes for right-wing magazine Le Point, has denied his novel is based on Arbane’s life.
His wife, Dahdouh, who also lives in France, also denied any wrongdoing but has confirmed that she was the women’s psychotherapist in Algeria.
Credit: Africa News
