Born in Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1920, Mohammed Dib is the author of more than 30 works, including numerous novels, volumes of poetry, story collections, essays and memoirs. He worked as a teacher, an accountant and an interpreter during WWII, and after the war as a journalist for Alger Républicain and Liberté. Expelled from Algeria by the colonial authorities in 1959, he moved to France, eventually settling in La Celle-Saint-Cloud. He lectured at the Sorbonne and at the University of California at Los Angeles. Dib was awarded several prizes, including the Grand prix de la Francophonie de l'Académie française, the Grand prix du Roman de la Ville de Paris, and the Prix Mallarmé. Dib died in 2003.