Born in Oulkhou, a small village in the Kabylie region, in 1954, Tahar Djaout studied at Algiers University, becoming fluent in Berber, Arabic and French (his preferred language for writing). He worked as a journalist and later editor-in-chief for the French language paper Algérie- Actualité and published four acclaimed novels including Les Chercheurs d'os (THE BONE SEEKERS) and Les Vigiles, which was awarded the Prix Mediterranée. In 1993 he was assassinated by the Armed Islamic Group, one of the attackers confessing that he was murdered because he "...wielded a fearsome pen."