Abdelkader Benali
#171523 Most Popular
About
Moroccan-Dutch journalist and fiction writer. He has written about running, both fictionally and journalistically. He also writes about art, and delves into crime thrillers and other genres.
Before Fame
He began publishing his writing with the 1996 work Bruiloft aan zee (Wedding by the Sea).
Trivia
He is an avid long-distance runner, his personal record being 2:52:19 in the marathon. He also wrote a book about his failed attempt to improve his best result, Marathonloper (Marathon Runner).
Family Life
He was born in Morocco. At four years old, he and his family, of Berber background, migrated from north Morocco to The Netherlands and settled in Rotterdam, where his father worked as a butcher. In spite of his family's Muslim faith and being brought up in that tradition, he is a non-believer.
Associated With
His fiction falls into the same vein of fellow Moroccan-born writer Laila Lalami. His focus on running aligns him with Haruki Murakami and Malcolm Gladwell.
