‘Meet the Writer: Mathias Enard & Dima Wannous’

A literary meeting between an Arab writer and a French writer, each a great admirer of the other's work.   
Dima Wannous studied French literature at the University of Damascus and at the Sorbonne in Paris. She achieved international renown with The Frightened Ones, a novel that unerringly relates the impact of the Syrian dictatorship on the everyday lives of young people. Wannous is one of the most important young Arab writers, and has lived in Europe since the Syrian civil war.   
Mathias Énard studied Persian and Arabic. He became known for his novels in which history, politics and literature are inextricably linked. Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants (2010) is about 16th century Constantinople, Street of Thieves about the Arab Spring, and Compass (2015) about classical music and the war in Syria. This book won the Prix Goncourt. Énard is one of the most important contemporary French writers.    

Moderation: Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi (co-ordinator Mahmoud Darwish Chair)