Cristina Bendek
Saïd Khatibi is an Algerian Arabic-language writer, journalist, and translator. His work spans fiction and reportage, informed by years of reporting from conflict zones across the world, most recently in Ukraine. The author of five novels translated into several languages, he won the 2026 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for The End of the Sahara. He lives in Slovenia
Colombia
Set during forty tense days leading up to Algeria's 1988 mass uprisings, the murder of a beloved hotel singer plunges a desert town into chaos. As an incompetent inspector and a defense lawyer race to investigate, suspicion spreads through a community already plagued by locusts and food shortages. Secrets, betrayals, and hidden grudges surface as everyone connected to her reveals a potential motive for revenge.