Abdellah Taïa

Abdellah Taïa (Arabic: عبد الله الطايع‎; born 1973) is a Moroccan writer and filmmaker who writes in the French language and has been based in Paris since 1998. He has published eight novels, many of them heavily autobiographical. His books have been translated into Basque,Dutch, English, Italian,Romanian, Spanish,Swedish and Arabic.

Described by Interview Magazine as a “literary transgressor and cultural paragon,” Taïa became the first openly gay Arab writer in 2006, and as of 2014 he remains the only openly homosexual Moroccan writer or filmmaker. His first movie, Salvation Army, is widely considered to have given Arab cinema “its first gay protagonist.” Since his coming-out, according to one source, Taïa “has become an iconic figure in his homeland of Morocco and throughout the Arab world, and a beacon of hope in a country where homosexuality is illegal.”

Early life and education

Taïa was born in 1973 in Rabat, Morocco. According to the New York Times, Taïa “was born inside the public library of Rabat…where his dad worked as a janitor and where his family lived until he was 2.” He grew up in Hay Salam, a neighborhood of Salé, a town near Rabat. His family was poor. He had nine siblings. He first came into contact with literature through his father’s job at the library.