Malek Lakhal: Valse des Silences

HUMA Book Launch

Author: Malek Lakhal (Tunisia)

Introduction: The book tells the story of Ahmed, a queer bourgeois Tunisian, as he learns that he is HIV positive in the early nineties. Knowing that he is bound to die soon, Ahmed decides to not tell his family and move back to Paris, where his best friend, Amal, still lives and is herself struggling with finding her place in a city she still can’t call home. The book is an act of meditation on the shared burden of silence within a family, on queer radical friendship and on migration. See the book: Valse des Silences (2022, JC Lattès)

 Read Chapter 1 (extract)

About the author: Malek Lakhal is a writer and researcher. She is the co-founder of the literary magazine Asameena. Her first novel, Valse des Silences, was published in May 2022 at Editions JC Lattès. 

Discussant: Sanae Al Ouazen is a researcher and translator. Her research interests include gender studies, post-colonial studies and critical race theory.

The session will held be in both English and French.