Abdellah Taïa

Born in Rabat in 1973, Abdellah Taïa is a French-speaking Moroccan writer. After studying French literature at the Mohamed V University in Rabat and at the Sorbonne University, he publishes several collections of autobiographically inspired short stories and novels with Editions du Seuil, in which he evokes his youth and homosexuality: An Arab Melancholia in 2008, Letters to a Young Moroccan in 2009, Infidels in 2012. In 2010, he wins the Prix de Flore for his novel The King’s Day.

He steps behind the camera in 2013 with Salvation Army, an adaptation of his autobiographical novel published in 2006. Selected for Critics' Week at the 2013 Venice Film Festival, and for the Toronto and Namur festivals, Salvation Army wins the Jury’s Special Prize at the Geneva International Film Festival and the Jury’s Great Prize at the Angers European First Film Festival. The film is nominated for the Grand Prize at the Tangier Festival in February 2014 in Morocco.

In May 2019, his book La Vie lente is selected by the Jury of the Prix Renaudot 2019.