Tahar Ben Jelloun

(b.1944 in Fez, Morocco) is a writer living in Tanger and Paris. His novels include L’Enfant de sable [The Sand Child] (1985), La nuit sacre [The Sacred Night] (1987, winner of the Prix Goncourt ), Jour de silence a Tanger [Silent Day in Tangier] (1990), Les yeux baisses [With Downcast Eyes] (1991, winner of the Prix des Hemispheres), and This Blinding Absence of Light (2003, winner of the international Impac Dublin Literary Award).