Abdellah Taïa was born in Rabat , Morocco, in 1973. He is the first Moroccan and Arab writer or filmmaker to publicly declare his homosexuality. The French Editions du Seuil has published six of his books, including Salvation Army (2006) and An Arab Melancholia (2008), both translated into English by Semiotext(e). His novel Le jour du Roi was awarded the prestigious French Prix de Flore in 2010. The New York Times described Taïa’s 2014 film adaptation of his novel Salvation Army as “a promising directorial debut that gave the Arab world its first on-screen gay protagonist.” The film was selected for the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and New Directors/New Films. His novel Infidels, translated into English by Alison L. Strayer, is forthcoming from Seven Stories Press.
Abdellah Taïa
Articles by Abdellah Taïa
Wednesday March 28
Frontiers
I was always angry with the Moroccan intellectuals. It seemed that they were all hijacked by power, by the government, by the king. And I found it inspiring to be gay and not appropriated by the king. So I said, “Okay, let’s have this moment, let’s face the world, and we’ll see what happens.”
Thursday April 21
Salvation Army
She always slept with us, in the middle, between my little brother Mustapha and my sister Rabiaa. She would fall asleep very quickly and night after night, in a natural, almost harmonious way, her snoring brought rhythm to her sleep. In the beginning it used to bother us, keep us from peacefully entering our dreams.