Algerian writer and author of ‘The Exclusion of the North African Novel in English from African Literature’, Fayssal Bensalah, argues that the North African novel in English has not been canonized into African literature by virtue of tradition: ‘This new literary tide has been obscured both continentally and globally. Its pioneers have been kept out of African literature for a long time, and I wanted to change this by writing an essay that introduces this movement and its writers and books.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
I read fiction, mostly. I grew up in Algeria, where we read in Arabic and French, at times in English. I started reading in Arabic when I was 16. I read the Algerian greats such as Ahlam Mosteghanemi, Tahar Ouettar and Waciny Laredj. I would switch to reading in English at university when I was 18. I had to because I majored in English language literature. I wasn’t a seasoned reader yet, so I took the safety road and started reading short stories. I fell in love with the brilliant ones of Albert Camus, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ha Jin, Leila Aboulela, Denis Johnson, Chinua Achebe, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and others. Reading novels in English would come later.
What’s the last thing you read that changed your mind about something?
I recently finished reading a book called Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne. It is a non-fiction book about the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful native American tribe in American history. I have learnt a lot about the capricious relationship between the white settlers and the native Americans; how they dealt with each other, how they tried to share the land, how they tried to outsmart and outmaneuver each other. It is an eye-opening book for those who are interested in American history. It presents many intriguing scenes and historical facts about native Americans that we don’t see in Westerns and documentaries.
You have a PhD in critical and creative writing. What’s a book every African student should read before leaving university?
Oh, this is a tough one. Just one book? African literature is loaded with great novels that African students are encouraged to read. If I had to select just one, it would be The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. It is a well-written text with an idiosyncratic narrative voice. The novel is allegorical, and it depicts skillfully and realistically familial and brotherly bonds.
I grew up in Algeria, where we read in Arabic and French, at times in English. I started reading in Arabic when I was 16.
What is your writing process: edit as you write or draft first, then edit?
I edit as I write. I only write one draft. I do not progress to the next paragraph until I am satisfied with the previous one. An unedited paragraph disrupts the narrative voice and often blocks the writing. It hinders the flow of the language. This is why I edit as I write. It works for me. It serves my work well.
What was your process for writing your essay, ‘The North African Novel in English’?
I enjoyed working on this essay because it introduces a new literary wave that has been sprouting quietly in North Africa. North African writers author books in English now, and this is a major development in the literary sphere of Africa. An important one. It not only enriches African literature but also informs that the English language is finding new cultural spaces, competing with Arabic and French in the region now. North African writers have been writing either in Arabic or French or in both for decades. Now they also write in English. Interesting, isn’t it? So, the process of writing the essay was exciting and personal, for I aim to be one of the pioneers of this new literary movement.
What inspired this essay?
The fact that many people ignore this literary movement inspired the essay. This new literary tide has been obscured both continentally and globally. Its pioneers have been kept out of African literature for a long time, and I wanted to change this by writing an essay that introduces this movement and its writers and books. I am happy it found a loving home in The Republic.
How did your approach change in writing your latest essay, ‘The Exclusion of the North African Novel in English from African Literature’?
My approach did not really change. I employed the same process to write this one. This essay is as important as the previous one. It argues that the North African novel in English has not been canonized into African literature by virtue of tradition. There is this tendency to exclude the North African novel in English from African literature. So, the essay explores the roots of this exclusion, both the historical and literary ones. It also introduces the sponsors of this exclusion, the continental ones, the international ones, the ones that keep it alive.
You are currently working on your debut novel. Can you give us a glimpse into the book and what inspired it?
A novel should promote cross-cultural understanding. A novel should take readers on a journey to unexplored cultural spaces. My first novel is about promoting understanding. The Couscous Western—is currently on submission. I am currently editing it. It is a literary Western peppered with fantastical and magically real elements. What inspired it? The Christchurch Mosque shootings that sadly took place in New Zealand on 15 March 2019. The main character’s father is one of the victims. Saddened by the death, she escapes into fiction, into a Western of her own creation.
I have learned a lot about the capricious relationship between the white settlers and the native Americans; how they dealt with each other, how they tried to share the land, how they tried to outsmart and outmaneuver each other.
Which book/author had the most influence on your approach to writing your forthcoming novel?
True Grit by Charles Portis. It is a short Western that features a clever young girl named Mattie Ross. She ventures into the Wild West to find her father’s killer. The main character of my novel, Yamama Blue, does something similar.
And what do you hope readers take away from reading your book?
That humanity and empathy should not be selective, that all lives matter.
What is the most meaningful piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
Do not romanticize creative writing. Develop a working person’s mentality. Writing is your job. Do it every day, even when you don’t want to.
What’s the first book you read that made you think you wanted to be a writer?
White Fang by Jack London. I read it when I was 18. The writer and I share similar experiences. Jack London was a self-taught writer. He had to learn how to write on his own. I did too.
Do you enjoy rereading books? If so, which book have you reread the most, and why?
I do, yes. I reread my favorite books, the ones that have impacted me the most, the ones that have shaped me as a writer and person. I keep returning to Memory of the Flesh by Ahlam Mosteghanemi, Lonesome Dove by Larry MacMurray, The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, Waiting by Ha Jin, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.
Do not romanticize creative writing. Develop a working person’s mentality. Writing is your job. Do it every day, even when you don’t want to.
What book from North Africa do you feel has not yet received the attention it deserves?
The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami, a Moroccan writer who writes in English. It is a historical novel that stars Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam al-Zamori, a Moroccan slave stranded and exiled in the New World, enslaved by two Spaniards in sixteenth-century Florida. It was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist in 2015. It should have won. It is brilliantly written, its themes well-established.
Which three books on Algeria should everyone be reading at this moment?
A Bookshop in Algiers (2020) by Kaouther Adimi; Tomorrow They Won’t Dare to Murder Us (2021) by Joseph Andras; and Sand Roses (2023) by Hamza Koudri
And who are the Algerian authors you’re most excited about today (and why?)
Oh, there are many. Algeria has always housed a great number of writers and creatives in general. To begin with, I particularly admire the literary spirit and activism of Abderrazak Boukebba. He is a journalist and prolific author. He has been trying to encourage reading books in Algeria for years. He does it diligently and ethically, and the Algerian people love him very much for it. He also mentors and supports young writers. Another is Hamza Koudri, who writes in English. He published a wonderful novel in 2023, titled Sand Roses. I think he is a part of the previously mentioned new literary tide in North Africa.
What’s one thing readers should be aware of when reading about Algeria?
Algeria is a positive country full of hope and full of potential.
What’s the last great book someone recommended to you?
Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne.
What is your favourite topic to write or read about these days?
I have been reading about climate change, because it is one of the themes of my novel in progress.
The Moor’s Account was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist in 2015. It should have won.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a novel. I have recently been announced as a Miles Morland scholar. Encouraged by this scholarship, I am currently working on a historical novel set in 1950s Algeria. It features a flamboyant French colonel who is kidnapped from Algiers and taken all the way to the desert to answer for a crime. This is all I can share for now.
Question from Wayétu Moore: What story has haunted you for years, and how have you carried it?
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. This novel haunts everyone who has read it with its violence and bloodshed and language. It still haunts me and drags me back to its pages.
Bonus: Please suggest a question for a future author’s First Draft
How do you deal with the politics of the publishing industry?
Who should we interview next?
Abderrazak Boukebba, who writes in Arabic; Chido Muchemwa, writer of Who Will Bury You? (2024); Hamza Koudri, writer of Sand Roses (2023)⎈
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