Rachid Boudjedra (Arabic: رشيد بوجدرة) was born on September 5, 1941, in Aïn Beïda, Algeria. He is an Algerian poet, novelist, playwright, and critic. From 1965 to 1981, he wrote in French. After that, he began writing in Arabic and often translated his own works between the two languages. In 1992, he returned to writing in French and has continued to do so since then.

Boudjedra studied in Constantine, Algeria, and in Tunis, Tunisia, at the Collège Sadiki. Later, he fought for the FLN during the Algerian War of Independence. He earned a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne in France, where he wrote a thesis about the French writer Céline. After receiving his degree, he returned to Algeria to teach. However, he was sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing the government and was exiled to Blida, Algeria. He lived in France from 1969 to 1972 and then in Rabat, Morocco, until 1975.

Boudjedra’s fiction is written in a complicated and detailed style, similar to the writing of authors like William Faulkner and Gabriel García Márquez. His book La Répudiation (1969, "The Repudiation") gained sudden attention because of how strongly he challenged traditional Muslim culture in Algeria. This book also caused strong reactions against him. A fatwa was issued, calling for his death, which led him to live outside Algeria. He is often called the greatest living North African writer.

In 2010, Boudjedra was awarded the Prix du roman arabe for his novel Les Figuiers de Barbarie. André Naffis-Sahely translated two of Boudjedra’s novels into English: Les Figuiers de Barbarie became The Barbary Figs (Haus, 2012), and Les Funérailles became The Funerals (Haus, 2015).

Boudjedra also worked on writing films. One of his films, Chronique des années de braise (Chronicle of the Years of Fire), directed by Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, won the Palme d’or at the Cannes Festival in 1975.