“There are many “nobodies” in different cultures and languages”

In this recent interview with Ahmed Taibaoui, the Algerian writer speaks about Mr. Nobody, the central character in his noir novel The Disappearance of Mr. Nobody, translated by Jonathan Wright (Hoopoe, 2023), for which Taibaoui won the 2021 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.

Taibaoui tells us where the idea for the novel came from, why he chooses to write the way he does, and offers some insight into his other characters.

Special thanks to Nihal Nour for the translation of this interview.