- Laurent Denimal
- Oct 9
The Swedish literary magazine Karavan is publishing in its new issue (3/2025) a detailed portrait of the Algerian-French author Boualem Sansal written by Åsa Magnusson.
Boualem Sansal, arrested in Algiers on 16 November 2024 by the Algerian authorities, imprisoned and charged, was sentenced on 27 March 2025 to five years in prison. What is he accused of ? His freedom of expression, his opinions, his writings.
Åsa Magnusson paints a portrait of the author, his journey as a free man and committed writer, who always refused to leave his country despite tensions and threats.
Karavan is a quarterly magazine with focus on literature from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
You can buy Karavan on all the good newsagent's shop in Sweden or at the Karavan webshop.
Read the complete article in
Boualem Sansal
Saint-Nazaire, November 16th, 2008
A selected bibliography
Boualem Sansals books are published in French by Éditions Gallimard
The French publishing house David Reinharc Editions published the book Pour Boualem Sansal (March 2025) in support of the writer.
The Boualem Sansal case is a matter of civilisation.
Sixty authors, each in their own way – as writers, politicians, thinkers, artists – defend the honour, courage and genius of a man facing
the worst political repression. His heroism compels us, his fate concerns us.
To abandon Boualem Sansal to his persecutors is, whether one is on the left, the right or the centre, to betray the spiritual essence of Europe.
Boualem Sansal in Swedish
I set in motion the translation of the novel Le village de l’Allemand (Gallimard, Paris 2008) in 2017 together with Kerstin Zetterquist and Åsa Magnusson, who were responsible for the Swedish text.
None of Boualem Sansals novels have been translated into Swedish yet, in spite of a wide-ranging and prolific literary production (novels, short stories, essays), various literature prizes :
. Prix du Premier Roman 1999
. Prix mondial Cino Del Duca 2025
Boualem Sansals novels are translated into multiple other European languages (English, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian …) .
We are still looking for a Swedish publisher who would be interested in introducing Sansal's literary work to Swedish readers.
More portraits of Boualem Sansal are available at the Opale Agency.
Boualem Sansal is represented in the photo book Portraits d’auteurs / Author portraits (Carlssons, 2020)
You can visit Åsa Magnussons website to find the complete collection of her texts (in Swedish).
