Famous Algerian Writers

Kateb Yacine was an Algerian writer best remembered for his plays and novels. Yacine was politically active and was an important member of the Algerian Communist Party. He also gave lectures with the support of the Algerian People's Party.

Assia Djebar was an Algerian novelist, translator, and filmmaker. She was a staunch feminist, and her works mostly revolved around the issues faced by women. She was fiercely anti-patriarchal and anti-colonial. In 2005, she became the first writer from the Maghreb to be elected to the Académie française. She received the 1996 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. 

Moufdi Zakaria was an Algerian nationalist, activist, poet, and writer. He is credited with writing the Algerian national anthem Kassaman when he was in prison in 1955. It is believed that he wrote the anthem using his blood on the walls of his cell. His life inspired a 2012 film titled Moufdi Zakaria, the Poet of the Revolution.

Yasmina Khadra is an Algerian author who writes in French. Khadra has published his novels in over 50 countries and is widely regarded as one of the most popular Algerian novelists in the world. Some of his novels have been adapted into films. Yasmina Khadra is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Henri Gal Literature Grand Prize.

Ahlam Mosteghanemi became the first female author from Algeria to have her books translated from Arabic to English. Daughter of militant activist Mohammed Cherif, Ahlam is known for her bestselling novels such as Memory of the Flesh. Her works reflect her fight against fundamentalism and corruption.

Mohammed Dib was an Algerian author who wrote more than 30 novels. He is also remembered for writing numerous poems, children's literature, and short stories in the French language. He is often counted among Algeria's most popular and prolific writers. Mohammed Dib was the recipient of the Fénéon Prize as well as the Mallarmé Prize.

Lounés Matoub was an Algerian singer, thinker, poet, and mandole player. An ardent advocate of human rights, secularism, and the Berber cause in Algeria, Matoub sparked an intellectual revolution. Lounès Matoub remained unpopular among the Muslim population for his secular and atheist politics and was assassinated on June 25, 1998.

Kamel Daoud is an Algerian journalist and writer. He is best known for his contribution to a French-language newspaper called Le quotidien d’Oran where he is currently working as an editor. Kamel Daoud also contributes as a columnist and currently writes a popular column called Raïna Raïkoum for the newspaper.

Martianus Capella was a Latin prose writer, jurist, and polymath. A native of Madaura, Capella is credited with developing the system of liberal arts education that structured early medieval education. Martianus Capella is also credited with writing an encyclopedic work titled On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury.

Ferhat Abbas was an Algerian politician and nationalist. He is best remembered for advocating equal political rights for Algerian Muslims living in France. He also worked towards coercing the French government to grant citizenship for Algerian Muslims. Today, Ferhat Abbas is remembered as a revolutionary Algerian nationalist.

Boualem Sansal is an Algerian author, novelist, and essayist who writes in French language. Over the years, Sansal's work has earned him important literary awards in France. In 2012, he won the Prix du roman arabe. However, the prize money was withdrawn after his visit to Israel where he spoke at the Jerusalem Writers Festival.

Mohammed Arkoun was an Algerian thinker and scholar. During his academic career, Arkoun wrote many books and was respected for his contributions to contemporary intellectual Islamic reform. Mohammed Arkoun was honored with several prestigious awards, such as the Giorgio Levi Della Vida Award and International Prize of Acharif Al Idrissi.

Mouloud Feraoun was an Algerian writer who wrote in French. Some of his books have been translated into a number of languages including German and English. Also an important and influential participant of the Algerian War of Independence, Mouloud Feraoun was martyred during the war in 1962.

Rachid Boudjedra is an Algerian poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote in French between 1965 and 1981, after which he started writing in Arabic. He also spent much of his time translating his own works from French to Arabic and vice versa. Rachid Boudjedra is also known as a scriptwriter and has been involved in penning many films.

Taos Amrouche was an Algerian singer and writer. In 1947, she became the first woman from Algeria to publish a novel, when she released her autobiographical novel titled Jacinthe noire. Although she wrote in French, Taos Amrouche sang in Kabyle and her debut album Chants berbères de Kabylie was translated from Kabyle to French by her brother Jean.

Rachid Mimouni was an Algerian writer, human rights activist, and teacher. Best remembered for his realism novels that describe Algerian society, Mimouni received many literary awards during his lifetime. Some of these awards include Literary Freedom Award, Albert Camus Award, and Literary Critics Award. Rachid Mimouni was also honored at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990.

Malek Haddad was an Algerian writer and poet. He wrote in the French language and achieved popularity as a novelist. Some of his popular novels include La Dernière impression, Je t’offrirai une gazelle, and Le Quai aux Fleurs ne répond plus. Apart from poems and novels, Malek Haddad also wrote essays like Les Zéros tournent en rond. 

Jean Sénac was an Algerian author best remembered for his poems, which were mainly written to invoke a sense of belonging and brotherhood in Algeria. He is also rememebered for his long-running relationship with philosopher and author, Albert Camus. Jean Sénac's life and career inspired many literary works and a couple of films.

Jean Amrouche was an Algerian francophone poet, writer, and journalist. He achieved popularity in Tunisia when Armand Guibert helped publish Amrouche's collections of poems in the late 1920s and 1930s. Apart from writing, Jean Amrouche is also remembered for his lectures.

Paul Robert was a French publisher and lexicographer. He is best remembered for his single-volume French dictionary, Petit Robert, which was first published in 1967. Paul Robert is also credited with founding a popular dictionary company called Dictionnaires Le Robert, which is regarded as the most accepted single-volume French language dictionary.

Abdelhamid Benhedouga was an Algerian writer who wrote over 15 novels in Arabic. He also wrote many plays and short stories and many of his works were translated to French. Widely regarded as one of the most prominent Algerian writers of his generation, Abdelhamid Benhedouga also made immense contributions to a number of radio stations in Algeria, Paris, and Tunisia. 

Henri Kréa was an Algerian-born French novelist, poet, dramatist, anti-colonialist, and political activist. His works dealt with nature, heroism, and social and moral changes in Algeria. Regarded as one of the best Algerian-born poets of his generation, Henri Kréa published over 20 collections of poetry during his lifetime.  

Mourad Bourboune is an Algerian novelist, poet, and screenwriter who writes in French. He has also contributed to publications like El Moudjahid, working as its editor-in-chief soon after Algeria's independence in 1962. Mourad Bourboune is also credited with founding the Union of Algerian Writers along with Jean Sénac, Mouloud Mammeri, Djamel Amrani, and Lâadi Flici.