12 April,
Fiction / In Conversation /
Salim Bachi in Conversation
Saturday, 12 April 2025, 2:30pm
The Mick Lally Theatre / €16.00 | €14.00
Book NowJoin us for a captivating event with Salim Bachi, one of the most remarkable contemporary voices of Algeria writing in French. Through his acclaimed body of work, including the celebrated novel The Silence of Mohammed, Bachi masterfully blends historical fact with imaginative storytelling to explore themes of identity, history and mythology. The Silence of Mohammed, which reimagines the life of the Prophet Mohammed through the perspectives of key figures, has been praised internationally and highlights Bachi’s ability to intertwine legend with literary innovation.
Salim Bachi will be in conversation with Patrick Crowley, Head of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Galway. A prominent scholar of modern and contemporary cultural production in the French-speaking world, particularly Algeria, Dr. Crowley brings a deep understanding of the cultural and historical contexts that inform Bachi’s work.
In association with the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Galway
Salim Bachi was born in Algiers, Algeria in 1971. Since the late 1990s he has lived mainly in Paris but has also lived in Rome and in Cork (Ireland). His literary oeuvre has been critically acclaimed and includes his first novel Le Chien d’Ulysse (2001) winner of the Prix littéraire de la Vocation, the Prix Goncourt du Premier roman and the Bourse de la découverte Prince Pierre de Monaco. His second novel La Kahéna was published in 2004 and was awarded the Prix Tropiques. Other novels include Tuez-les tous (2006), Le silence de Mahomet (2008), Amours et aventures de Sindbad le Marin (2010), Moi, Khaled Kelkal (2012), Le dernier été d’un jeune homme (2013), Le Consul (2014) and Un jeune homme en colère (2018). He has published three récits: Autoportrait avec Grenade (2006), Dieu, Allah, moi et les autres (2016) winner of the Prix Renaudot Poche and L’exil d’Ovide (2018). Two of his novels have been translated into English: The Silence of Muhammed and The New Adventures of Sindbad the Sailor. His last book La peau des nuits cubaines has been published in 2021. His next novel Le Rocher des Proscrits, an account of Victor Hugo’s exile in Jersey, will be published in September 2025.
