After a career as a petrochemical engineer for the state, Youcef Zirem left the industrial sector to pursue a career as a journalist in Alger after the tragic events of October 1988. In the last 15 years, he wrote for a dozen newspapers, including La Nation, La Tribune, Le Quotidien d’Algérie, Alger-Républicain, L’Opinion, Le Quotidien d’Oran… His first book, Les Enfants du brouillard, was published in Paris in November 1995. Since then he has published a dozen titles, L’Homme qui n’avait rien compris, La Vie est un grand mensonge, Le Chemin de l’éternité, La Guerre des ombres, Histoire de la Kabylie… He has been living in Paris for more than ten years, hosting the literary show « Graffiti, littératures du monde » on BRTV.