Mohammed Dib is considered one of the founding fathers of North African Francophone literature. Born in western Algeria in 1920, he gained fame as a novelist with the publication of his Algérie trilogy (1952-57). He was exiled by the French colonial police for working toward national independence in 1959 and took up residence in France. Read More A prolific novelist, poet, and short story writer, he published over thirty books. In 1994 he was the first person of North African descent to be honored with the Grand Prix de la Francophonie de l'Académie Française. He was also awarded the Prix Mallarmé for L'Enfant-Jazz in 1998. Mohammed Dib died in 2003 near Paris.