FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Mohammed Moulesslhoul served in the Algerian army for 36 years before retiring to follow his real passion — writing. The novelist, known by the pen name Yasmina Khadra, will present a reading and lecture at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 3, in room 507 of the University of Arkansas Union.

Moulesslhoul was born in Algeria in 1955. An officer in the Algerian army, he started writing as a young cadet in the military academy, and published six novels under his real name from 1984 to 1989. In 1989, his wife suggested he take on a pseudonym to escape military censorship and she lent him her two first names. He used this alias during the next 11 years, during which he wrote seven novels. In 2000, after rising to the rank of commander during his 36 years of military life, he retired from the army to dedicate himself full-time to writing. In 2001, after a short stay in Mexico, he settled in France where he has lived ever since with his family.

Khadra hit the scene in 1997 with Morituri, followed by L'Ecrivain in 2001, an autobiographical novel. Les Hirondelles de Kaboul, translated in the United States by John Cullen, was best book of the year in 2005 according to the San Francisco Chronicle and Christian Science Monitor. L'Attentat, pubished in 2005, confirmed his talent and international acclaim.

Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetze sees in this prolific writer, now translated into 17 languages in 30 countries, “a novelist of the highest order.”

This event is free and open to the public. Please note that the reading and lecture will be in French. The event is sponsored by the department of foreign languages and the French club, Les Tutoyeurs.