Habib Selmi

Habib Selmi was born in Al-Ala, Tunisia, in 1951. He obtained a Higher Teaching Certificate (agrégation) in Arabic Language before immigrating to Paris in 1985, where he now lives and teaches Arabic in a prestigious secondary school. His published novels include Goat Mountain (1988), Portrait of a Dead Bedouin (1990), Sand Labyrinth (1994), Warm Pits (1999), Bayya’s Lovers (2002) and Abdallah’s Secrets (2004). His novel The Scents of Marie-Claire (2008) was IPAF-shortlisted in 2009 and published in English translation by Arabia Books in 2010. The Women of al-Basatin (2010) was IPAF-shortlisted in 2012 and translated into French and German.