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This is where Ahlem's battle begins against sexism.

It was even less prepared to see her do it in the sacred Arabic language. It was not prepared to see a girl express herself freely on subjects such as love and women's rights. īut, at the time, the Algerian society was rebuilding its identity and recovering from a colonial past that resulted in the death of over a million and a half. For my father, choosing Arabic was a conscious political decision, but for me, it was my father’s will that I was keen on fulfilling'. She has said that 'Arabic was my father’s choice, not mine he wanted me to avenge him, as he was deprived of learning it by the French colonizer, who declared war on the Arabic language as a way of stripping Algerians of their identity. The Arabic language Īhlam studied in the Arab school for girls to open after Algeria's independence, gaining proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic. At the time, she was part of the first generation to acquire the right to study in Arabic after more than a century of prohibition by the French colonization. It was followed in 1976 by the release of Al Kitaba fi Lahdat Ouray (The Writing in a Moment of Nudity). While publishing in 1973, Ala Marfa al Ayam (To the Days’ Haven), Ahlem also became the first woman to publish a compilation of poetry in Arabic, which put her on a thorny and untraveled path. At the age of 17, she became popular in Algeria with the poetic daily show Hammassat (Whispers) on national radio. In the 70s, following the assassination attempt during the Boumediene coup d’état, and the consequent hospitalization of her father, who was also targeted, Ahlem, as the eldest sibling, took up the responsibility of providing for her family as a radio host. He launched a literacy campaign all over the territory and supervised the distribution of agricultural land to the poorest. In the wake of independence, her family moved back to Algeria, where her father, an intellectual and a humanitarian, occupied high positions in the first Algerian government. She is the daughter of a militant political activist who was forced into exile during the Algerian liberation war. Biography Birth in exile and return to Algeria Īhlem was born in Tunis, Tunisia. She was the first Algerian woman to publish fiction in Arabic.