Her novel, A Bad Omen, deals with the power of literature to destroy life

Azimi: Why do writers need “reality” when imagination is inexhaustible

Azimi: “I wanted to tell you how literature can sometimes be a bad omen.”

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Five years after winning the Ronodo Prize for high school students for her novel "Our Fortune", which was a tribute to books, Algerian writer Kaouthar Azimi publishes a family story in which she reveals the destructive power of literature, particularly the fictional autobiography.

Azimi considers her novel, “A Bad Os,” published this week by the French “Sui” house, in complete contrast to her novel “Our Fortunes,” published in 2017, which was introduced to the general public.

This novel was a true tribute to literature and books, in which it told the story of Edmond Charlo, who lived and published the works of the greatest novelists of his time, including Albert Camus.

And the facts of Azimi's new novel take place, as usual, in her homeland, Algeria.

"Bad Ostens", Azimi's fifth novel, tells the story of the trio, Saeed, the spoiled son of a wealthy family, Tariq, who was raised by his mother alone, and Laila, the rebellious girl whose family seeks to marry her quickly.

The three separated with the outbreak of World War II, but Tariq and Laila met again later and married, while Saeed's fate remained unknown.

Years later, Saeed reappeared in the couple's life, sparking a real scandal.

As he became a writer, he published a novel about his youth years, in which he talks overwhelmingly about Laila, keeping her real name, and this novel constituted a turning point, which turned the lives of Laila and Tariq upside down.

The novelist says, "I wanted to tell how literature can sometimes be a bad omen, because what turns and destroys the lives of a married couple in this story is a book."

The roots of the story go back to a personal experience that the writer lived during her studies at the University of Algiers, as she “by chance” fell into a book that she soon realized was talking about her grandparents.

However, the book is not a fictional autobiography.

She concludes, "I've always wondered why writers need reality so much, when imagination is an inexhaustible source of inspiration."

• The roots of the story go back to a personal experience that the writer lived during her school days, but the book is not a fictional autobiography.

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