Habib Selmi

was born in al-’Ala, Tunisia, in 1951. He has published eight novels in Arabic, with four French editions by Actes Sud, and two in German translation. His novel The Scents of Marie-Claire was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2008-2009 and published in English translation by Arabia Books in 2010.

He has two collections of short stories, with a number of stories translated and published in English, Norwegian, Hebrew and French in several international anthologies. 

His novels include Jabal al-’Anz (Goat Mountain), Ushaq Bayya (Bayya's Lovers) which was excerpted in Banipal 18 along with an in-depth interview, Surat Badawi Mayyit (Picture of a Dead Bedouin), 1990, Matahat al-Raml (Sand Labyrinth), 1994, Hufar Dafi’a (Warm Pits), 1999 and Asrar Abdallah (Abdallah’s Secrets), 2004.

Habib Selmi has lived in Paris since 1985.

His latest novel Nissa'u al-Bassateen (The Women of Al-Bassatin), published by Dar al-Adab, Beirut 2011, was shortlisted for the 2012 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.