Robin Camille Davis
  1. Home /
  2. Blog /
  3. Là-bas

Là-bas

October 16, 2009
Tags: books

Atiq Rahimi is an Afghanistani writer living in Paris. He won France's most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, last year. From an interview with him entitled "L'écrivain, est-il toujours un exilé?" (Is the writer always an exile?):

I often tell the same story to define exile. It's about a legendary figure in our culture, Nasro Dinh. One night, a man discovers him searching for his house keys beneath a street lamp. The stranger begins to help him and then interrupts him. "Did you lose them here?" Nasro Dinh explains that this isn't the case, that he lost them close to his house. "But why are you looking for them here?" asked the man. "Because over there, there is no light."

"L'écrivain, est-il toujours un exilé?" Interview by Tâm Van Thi. Le Magazine Litteraire, Sept. 2009 p.12. My translation.