Anouar Benmalek was born in Casablanca in 1956 and now lives in France. After the 1988 riots in Algeria in protest of government policies, he became one of the founders of the Algerian Committee Against Torture.

His novel The Lovers of Algeria, recently published in the United States, was awarded the Prix Ragid and his most recent novel, The Child of an Ancient People, won the Prix R.F.O. du Livre.