Playwright, actor, and director Slimane Benaïssa examines the events of 9/11 and the relations between Islam and the West in his recent novel The Last Night of a Damned Soul (Grove Press, September 2004). His visit to Grinnell coincides with the publication of his first work in English, translated by Janice and Daniel Gross of the Grinnell College Department of French. The novel gives a human face to terrorism through the character of a young Arab American man in search of spiritual and cultural identity. With extensive quotations from the Koran, it exposes the terrifying logic of the suicide bomber. The novel earned recognition in France as a Prix Méditerranée 2003.

Born in Algeria, Slimane Benaïssa is proud of his multicultural heritage (Berber, Arabic, and French). He has resided in France since 1993 when terrorist threats forced him to leave Algeria, and he now writes and performs in French. He has won awards for his theatre, and in 2000 President Chirac named him to the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie. In over a dozen plays, three novels, and numerous conferences and workshops, Benaïssa confronts the world of political violence and religious intolerance by presenting both sides of complex and controversial topics such as terrorism, torture, Arab-Israeli relations, and the wearing of the veil.

Trained in math and electrical engineering but drawn to literary studies, Benaïssa discovered theatre in Algeria in the early 1970s. He adapted and translated plays by Brecht, Aeschylus, and most notably Kateb Yacine from French into dialectical Arabic. As an actor he performed widely throughout Algeria and founded Algeria's first independent theatre troupe. His recent play, which toured Europe and Canada, Prophètes sans dieu [Prophets Without God], presents a conversation between Moses, Jesus, and the author as they await the absent Muhammad.

All of the events will be conducted in French and English.

9-19 (Sun.) Grinnell College, Forum South Lounge
4 p.m. Slimane Benaïssa: Public Reading (French/English)
The Last Night of a Damned Soul

9-20 (Mon.) Grinnell College, Forum South Lounge
8 p.m. Slimane Benaïssa: "An Algerian Author Responds to 9/11"
"Why and How I Wrote The Last Night of a Damned Soul"

9-21 (Tues.) Grinnell College, Forum South Lounge
4:15 p.m. Panel Discussion:
"Muslim Perspectives of the Other"
Slimane Benaïssa, Harold Kasimow, Janice Gross, and Daniel Gross

Mr. Benaïssa's visit to the United States is sponsored by the Rosenfield Public Affairs Program at Grinnell College with support from the Center for International Studies, the Grinnell Writers Conference, and the Department of French at Grinnell College. His visit also includes a reading at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City.