Daoud, Kamel

Biography

Born in 1970 in Mostaganem, Kamel Daoud lives in Oran. A journalist and columnist for some twenty years, for over fifteen years he wrote the most widely read column in Algeria for the daily newspaper Le Quotidien d’Oran. In recent years, he has contributed regular articles to the international press and in the spring of 2016 he was awarded the Prix Lagardère for journalist of the year. With Actes Sud, he has published a collection of short stories, La Préface du nègre (Babel n° 1291), his debut novel, Meursault, contre-enquête (2014; Goncourt for the best first novel, Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie, Prix François-Mauriac, Prix liste Goncourt / le choix de l’Orient, Prix liste Goncourt / le choix roumain, Prix liste Goncourt / le choix serbe) which brought him international acclaim (over thirty translations published or in preparation), and Mes indépendances. Chroniques 2010-2016 (2017)