Kamel Daoud on Writing, Censorship, and the Paradox of Global Acclaim and Criminalization in Postcolonial Algeria

ON APRIL 21, 2026, an Algerian court sentenced French Algerian writer Kamel Daoud in absentia to three years in prison and imposed a substantial fine. The charge? Not incitement or criminal violence, but writing a novel.

Houris, published by Gallimard in 2024, had just made history: Daoud became the first Algerian author to receive the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize. Yet at home, the book was banned.

Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud discusses the position of the writer in postcolonial Algeria and what it means to receive global acclaim while being criminalized at home.