Francophone Poetry from Algeria

January 2019

In this collection, originally featured in the January 2019 issue of Words Without Borders, we present Francophone poetry from Algeria, introduced and translated by Marilyn Hacker.

“I Write in French to Tell the French I Am Not French”: Algerian Francophone Poetry

By Marilyn Hacker

Algerian Francophone poetry was largely outside, and in contrast to, the post-World War II movement in French poetry of disengagement from political causes.

From “The Night Inside”

By Djamal Amrani

The slumber at the edge/ of my well of fever

Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker

Multilingual

Beneath a Pile of Rubble

By Djamal Amrani

Because death is stronger than hunger

Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker

Multilingual

Minus One

By Samira Negrouche

I would like/ in a faraway language/ to tell you what I don’t/ understand

Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker

MultimediaMultilingual

A shadowy orange canyon with twisting rock formations

Photo by Peter Forster on Unsplash

In the Shadow of Grenada

By Samira Negrouche

She tells me not to be / a holy land / or a mine of tenderness

Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker

MultimediaMultilingual

Celebration of the Absent One

By Habib Tengour

The father’s house is a living language/ Open to guests passing through

Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker

MultimediaMultilingual

The Tartar from the Kremlin

By Habib Tengour

This particular Tartar is unbeatable at cards/ Except for whist (not a game for Tartars)

Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker

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Francophone Poetry from Algeria

January 2019

“I Write in French to Tell the French I Am Not French”: Algerian Francophone Poetry

From “The Night Inside”

Beneath a Pile of Rubble

Minus One

In the Shadow of Grenada

Celebration of the Absent One

The Tartar from the Kremlin