A Persian translation of the book 'Chorus,' also known as 'The Virgins,' written by Kamel Daoud, has arrived in bookstores across Iran. According to ISNA, the book was translated from French by Sanaz Fallahfard, and the publisher Tadaee Publication released it in a volume of 397 pages.
The novel 'Chorus' is dedicated to the victims of events that Algerians call the 'Black Decade.' During this period, tens of thousands of people died in the army's fight against the Islamist uprising. The conflict began in 1991 after Islamists won the first stage of legislative elections, which prompted the military-backed government to cancel the second round of voting.
The main character, Oub, is a young Algerian woman who must remember the war for independence she did not experience and forget the civil war of the 1990s that she herself endured. Her tragedy is marked on her body: a scar on her neck and damaged vocal cords. Silent, she dreams of regaining her voice and can only tell her story to the daughter she carries within her. However, the question arises about her right to keep this child, and whether life is possible when she is almost taken away?
In the country that adopted laws punishing any mention of the civil war, Oub decides to return to her native village, where it all began, and where perhaps the dead will answer her.
Kamel Daoud, 56, is a Franco-Algerian writer and journalist. He is best known for his 2013 novel 'Mersault Investigation' and his 2024 novel 'Chorus,' which won the Goncourt Prize that year.
The author previously stated this year that he was sentenced to three years in prison in Algeria for the novel 'Chorus,' which received France's most prestigious literary award. The writer, who resides in France, also stated that he was fined 5 million Algerian dinars ($38,000).
Daoud indicated that he was convicted based on the so-called Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation—a document adopted following a 2005 referendum that granted broad amnesties to both armed Islamists and security forces.
'This document criminalizes any public mention of the civil war,' Daoud stated. 'Ten years of war, around 200,000 deaths by estimates, thousands of terrorists received amnesty... and only one guilty party: the writer.'
In addition to the lawsuit initiated by the court in the Algerian city of Oran, Daoud is subject to two international arrest warrants issued by Algeria in May 2025, and faces the threat of losing his Algerian citizenship.