Paris Book Festival Honours Kabylia

The Kabyle people are taking centre stage at this year’s Paris Book Festival, with a major booth and a strong lineup of celebrated authors representing Kabyle culture, which the Algerian government is determined to suppress.

Booth Bala 20 is entirely dedicated to Kabyle literature, culture, and history, and stands out among the largest exhibits on display at the Grand Palais, which is hosting the fourth edition of the literary event this week. The booth features ten prominent Kabyle writers as well as Ferhat Mehenni, the President of both the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK) and the Kabyle Government in Exile in Paris (Anavad). “This is more than just a book fair for us,” Zulema Sabah Mahfoudia, a representative of the Kabyle Government in exile said. “It’s a recognition of our identity, a chance to share our voices, and a form of resistance [to oppression] through culture.”

Kabyle activists continue to raise awareness of the predicament of Kabyles in their own land, constantly subject to cultural, linguistic, and religious repression and other serious human rights abuses by the military regime in Algiers. They are forced to assert their political demands through the diaspora because they cannot do it at home for fear of reprisals.

In October, Kabylia will be the guest of honor at the Brittany Book Festival, where President Mehenni will serve as president of the event.“The Kabyle culture is deeply rooted in literature,” President Mehenni told Barlaman. “Awal [the word] serves as the cornerstone of our soul.”