Faïza Guène was only 19 when Kiffe Kiffe Demain (Just Like Tomorrow), her first novel, was published by Hachette in 2004. She had already made three short films, a medium-length feature and a documentary, while studying sociology at Paris VIII, at St. Dénis, where she grew up. Guène’s Algerian parents, from Oran, made their home initially in Bobigny, where she was born. She grew up in a norther suburb of Paris, Pantin, in Seine-Saint-Denis, on Courtillieres, a large public housing estate that gives its name to a French rap group.
She has written two novels about young French Algerians, both of which draw on Verlan, the backslang of the banlieux, and become a familiar face on French TV and media. She continues to live in Pantin.
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