Ahlam Mostaghanemi

[Al-khiyal]

Ahlam Mostaghanemi

[Al-khiyal]

Memory in the Flesh by Ahlam Mosteghanemi (U.K.)

Memory in the Flesh by Ahlam Mosteghanemi (U.S.A.)

This prize-winning novel, the first to be written by an Algerian woman in Arabic, is concerned with Algeria's struggle against foreign domination as well as its post-independence struggle with itself and the fate of revolutionary ideals in a post-revolutionary society.

The story, spanning more than four decades of Algerian history, from the 1940s to the 1980s, revolves around a love affair between Khaled, the middle-aged militant who turns to painting after losing his left arm in the struggle, and the fiction writer and young daughter of his friend the freedom fighter Si Taher, all brilliantly told through Khaled's voice.

It was features such as this convincing embodiment of a male voice alongside narrative techniques in which the author subtly joins the acheivements of world literature with that of local storytelling and traditional modes of narration that particularly impressed the judges who awarded this novel the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.

[Al-khiyal]

Chaos of the Senses by Ahlam Mosteghanemi (U.K.)

Chaos of the Senses by Ahlam Mosteghanemi (U.S.A.)

This work presents a woman's unreal love affair during the Algerian civil war in a new paperback edition. Ahlam Mosteghanemi's second novel picks up where Memory in the Flesh left off, with the story of love set in the battered and bruised Algeria of the 1990s. Mosteghanemi takes her readers through the streets of suspicion and suspense, and the ups and downs of a forbidden love affair, through a story within a story, as a writer stuck in a loveless marriage to an important military man inadvertently writes what eventually comes true. She begins - after a period of not writing - by penning the narrative of a mysterious man who courts the object of his desire through deceptive words, then she helplessly follows the path of her fictitious character only to find that the mystery man exists and it is he who has led her to his door and into his life. One twist leads to the next, as the question remains of which man the writer was destined to meet and fall in love with - the mysterious artist or the doomed journalist. This lyrical adventure teases the reader with facts for fiction and fiction for facts. The backdrop of political chaos creates a sense of foreboding and fear for two powerless lovers. But where is reality and where is fantasy?

[Al-khiyal]

Arabian Business
Power 100 2008

.....Other notable media professionals in this year's list, both females, include Ahlam Mosteghanemi, the most powerful Algerian in the list and Leila Al-Sheikali, who is the most powerful Qatari woman in the list.....

#58 Ahlam Mosteghanemi

She is one of the Arab world's mot renowned writers and the daughter of Algerian revolutionary figure Mohammed Cherif. Mosteghanemi was born on April 13, 1953 and became the first female Algerian writer whose works were translated into English and the first contemporary Arab author to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of her work in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Tunisia, and the UAE. Translations include the first two of a trilogy titled Memory in the Flesh and Chaos of the Senses. The writings portray and feature the Algerian struggle for postcolonial success and security. Her style of prose writing has often been commended for its extensive and inspiring portrayal of the Algerian plight.

In 1998, Mosteghanemi was awarded the Naguib Mahfouz prize for her novel Memory in the Flesh which also revolves around Algeria's struggle against foreign domination and the chaos that plagued the nation prior to independence. And no one was more eligible to portray this struggle than Mosteghanemi whose father's political activities led to him losing his two brothers during an anti-French demonstration and the family fleeing Algeria for Tunisia where their house was a halfway house for Algerian resistance fighters. The family returned back to its home country after independence in 1962 where Ahlam was sent to the first Arabic school in Algeria, making her one of the first of her generation to receive instruction in her native language.

The mental breakdown of Mosteghanemi's father forced her to support the entire family at the age of 18 by working for the Algerian radio service. Her late-night radio show paved the way for her career in poetry. She published her first poetry anthology Ala Marfa' Al Ayam (On the Harbour of Time) in 1973 in Algeria and followed that up in 1976 with another successful anthology.

Mosteghanemi left to Paris in the seventies where she tied the knot to a Lebanese journalist and started a family. She earned a PhD from the Sorbonne in the eighties and published her first novel Memory in the Flesh in 1993, which is now in its 19th edition and has sold over 130,000 copies.

Mosteghanemi lives in Beirut, Lebanon.

[Al-khiyal]

La romancière Ahlem Mosteghanemi ambassadrice de bonne volonté

Dimanche 1 juin 2008 -- L’Organisation des Nations Unies a choisi la romancière algérienne Ahlam Mosteghanemi comme ambassadrice de bonne volonté dans une campagne de collecte de dons au profit des Iles Comores, et cela en compagnie du Dr Fouzia Khelfane des Emirats arabes unis, la Marocaine Nawal El Moutawakil et la journaliste Leila Chikhli.

Une cérémonie a été organisée avant-hier à l’émirat d’El-Sharika, où Mme Jawahar Al-Kassimi, la veuve du roi de l’émirat, a accordé l’insigne de responsabilité et la mission d’ambassadrice de bonne volonté du programme de développement scientifique et humanitaire, sous le parrainage de la Ligue arabe et des projets des Nations Unies pour collecter les dons destinés aux Iles Comores.

Ahlam Mosteghanemi a déclaré, dans le discours qu’elle a prononcé à l’occasion au nom des ambassadrices du programme de développement scientifique et humanitaire pour le soutien des Iles Comores : « l’être humain est à la hauteur de la cause qu’il défend ».

Ella a indiqué qu’elle est convaincue que des femmes sont prêtes à relever le défi avec tout ce qu’elles ont de générosité et de sens patriotique. Elle a ajouté qu’elle avait exprimé sa prédisposition à effectuer cette mission lorsqu’elle a rencontré, pour la première fois, le directeur exécutif du centre de la participation de la femme arabe qui lui a parlé des Iles Comores et de la souffrance subie par ce peuple arabe et musulman.

[Al-khiyal]

Lors d’une soirée qui a brisé la glace avec Toumi :
La romancière Ahlam Mosteghanemi reçoit le « Burnous d’honneur »

Vendredi 6 Novembre 2009 -- La romancière Ahlam Mosteghanemi a indiqué qu’elle devait sa notoriété à la disparition de grands noms de la littérature algérienne, tombés sous les balles des terroristes, à l’instar de l’écrivain Tahar Djaout. Celle-ci a, en effet, mis fin, avant-hier, à la guerre médiatique qu’elle et la ministre de la culture Khalida Toumi s’étaient livrées, ces derniers mois, en raison de propos acerbes de la romancière à la bibliothèque nationale, en marge de la remise du prix de littérature Malek Haddad 2007. Ce coup de froid s’est prolongé, puisque celles-ci avaient évité de se parler lors du gala organisé à la salle Atlas, pour soutenir les victimes de Ghaza. Les choses se sont, semble-t-il, arrangé avant-hier, la romancière ayant reçu, lors d’une soirée artistique animée par la chanteuse libanaise Majda Wahbi, un burnous d’honneur des mains de la ministre, et un diplôme d’honneur du ministre des moudjahidines, Mohamed Cherif Abbas. L’auteur des Mémoires de la chair a ensuite pris la parole pour rendre hommage aux grands noms de la littérature algérienne, déclarant que « l’Algérie l’avait tant fait rire, tant fait pleurer », et qualifiant la ministre comme une « sœur ». Elle a, par ailleurs, déclaré que si elle était là aujourd’hui, c’était grâce aux grands écrivains algériens, et en particulier Tahar Djaout, citant, dans le même contexte, d’actuels auteurs tels que Ouettar, Boudjedra, Zaoui et les autres. Rappelons que la soirée rendait hommage au succès en librairie et au niveau médiatique, du dernier livre de celle-ci, intitulé Nissyan.com, à travers lequel elle éclaire toutes les femmes victimes d’une déception amoureuse.

[Tipaza]

I've read "Mémoires de la chair" in French ... wasn't convinced ... maybe the translation couldn't convey all the subtilities of the Arabic language, its poetry.