Abdellah Taïa (MA)

The Moroccan author Abdellah Taïa is a writer and filmmaker, and his novel Vivre à ta lumière has recently been published in Denmark. The novel is divided into three parts of the main character Malika's life, which revolves around her strained relationship with the colonial power France. First, she loses her husband, who fights in France's war in Indochina, later a wealthy French family wants to take one of her daughters into their home – something she vehemently opposes – and lastly her son moves to Paris because he cannot stay in Morocco due to his homosexuality.

Taïa's writing are characterized by giving voice and space to those who often do not have a place in literature, and a recurring theme in his books is life as a homosexual and Muslim. He made his debut in 2000 with the short story collection Mon Maroc but had his breakthrough in 2006 with the autobiographical novel Salvation Army.