Bio

Berber poet and novelist Salem Zenia was born in Freha (Tizi Ouzou) in Kabylia. Spring of 1980, later known as Berber Spring, was a period of civil activism for Berber rights, and Zenia was a member of the students’ committee for his region. He studied Journalism (Universalis Institute, Belgium) and then got a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology (UNED).

From 1990 to 1995, he worked as a journalist at the regional weekly paper Le pays/Tamurt. In 1998, he founded his own newspaper, Racines/Izuran, to promote Berber culture and literature and he is still editor-in-chief.

On 15 July 2005, Salem Zenia was awarded the honour diploma of the Tamazgha association in Paris for defending and promoting Berber language and culture, based on his work and contribution to the development and expansion of Berber literature.

Salem Zenia has lived in Catalonia since May 2007 through the PEN Català Refugee Writer Programme.