Biography

Malika Mokkeddem was born on October 5, 1949 in Kenadsa

Kenadsa

Kenadsa is a town in the Sahara Desert of western Algeria 10 kilometres south-west of Béchar in Béchar Province. It is the capital of Kénadsa District. Near Kenadsa, there is a large longwave broadcasting station....

, a small mining town on the limit of the western desert of Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

. She is the daughter of an illiterate nomad family who became sedentary. She grew up listening to the stories told by her grandmother, Zohra, and was the only girl in her family and town to finish secondary studies. She enrolled to study medicine in Oran

Oran

Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

 and finished her studies in Paris. She specialized in Nephrology

Nephrology

Nephrology is a branch of internal medicine and pediatrics dealing with the study of the function and diseases of the kidney.-Scope of the specialty:...

 and later established in Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

in 1979. She practiced till 1985 when she decided to dedicate her time to literature.

Works

• The Men Who Walk (Les hommes qui marchent, 1990), Littré Prize and Fondation Nourredine Aba Prix.
• The Century of Locusts (Le siècle des sauterelles, 1992), Prix France-Maghreb Afrique-Méditerranée.
• The Forbidden Woman (L'interdite, 1994), Méditerranée Prix.
• Of Dreams and Assassins (Des rêves et des assassins, 1995)
• Night of the Lizard (La nuit de la lézarde, 1998)
• N'zid (2001)
• Trance of the Rebellious (La transe des insoumis, 2003)
• My Men (Mes hommes, 2005)