Maïssa Bey

Samia Benameur
Born	1950 (age 74–75) Ksar Boukhari, Algeria
Pen name	Maïssa Bey
Language	French
Genre	novel, short story

Samia Benameur[1] (born 1950),[2] better known by her pseudonym, Maïssa Bey, is an Algerian educator and writer.[1]

Life

She was born in Ksar Boukhari and teaches French in Sidi-Bel-Abbès in western Algeria.[1] In 1996, she published her first novel[3] Au commencement était la mer.[4] Her story collection Nouvelles d'Algérie was published in 1998 and received the Grand Prix de la nouvelle of the Société des gens de lettres. Her 2001 novel Cette fille-là was awarded the Prix Marguerite Audoux.[1] In 2005, she received the Grand Prix des libraires algériens for her work to date.[5]

She was a co-founder of the Chèvre-feuille étoilée publishing house. In 2000, she helped establish Paroles et écriture, a cultural association of Algerian women.[5]

Selected works

Source:[2]

• Au commencement était la mer, novel (1996)
• Nouvelles d'Algérie, stories (1998)
• Cette fille-là, novel (2001)
• Entendez-vous dans les montagnes, novel (2002); English translation, Do You Hear in the Mountains (2018)
• Surtout ne te retourne pas, novel (2005); English translation, Above All, Don't Look Back (2009)
• Sous le jasmin la nuit, stories (2004)
• Bleu, blanc, vert, novel (2006), received the Cezam Prix Littéraire Inter CE[6]
• Pierre, Sang, Papier ou Cendre, novel (2008), received the Grand Prix du roman francophone SILA[5]
• L'une et l'autre, autobiography (2009)
• Puisque mon cœur est mort, novel (2009)

References

1. "Maïssa Bey". Littératures du Maghreb (in French). Archived from the original on 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
2. Auzias, Dominique; Labourdette, Jean-Paul (2010). Algérie (in French). p. 140. ISBN 978-2746925755.
3. Rice, Alison (2012). Polygraphies: Francophone Women Writing Algeria. p. 17. ISBN 978-0813932910.
4. Segarra, Marta (2010). Nouvelles romancières francophones du Maghreb (in French). p. 96. ISBN 978-2811132354.
5. "Maïssa Bey" (in French). Association Confluences.
6. "Prix littéraire" (in French). Cezam Auvergne.