The Dutch-Moroccan novelist, Abdelkader Benali, took part at the "Astonishing Travelers" Festival, held in Saint-Malo (North-west France), from May 5 to 8, together with 36 other authors. Durin the event he was presented as "the great promises of the literature of tomorrow".
Abdelkader Benali was born in 1975 and decided to make literary his profession while studying History in Leyde, in the Netherlands. His first novel, "Weddings of the Sea", a product of the Maghrebian – European "cultural shock" was a great success. It was translated into seven languages and had gained him the prize of the "Best First Work" in the Netherlands and the prize of the "Best foreign novel" in France, in 1999.
His second novel, "The Long Awaited Child", was published in 2002. <i>EMarrakech</i> reports that more than 150 authors from Africa, Europe, Asia and America have attended this festival, which included a number of open debates and literary meetings.
