Le�la Sebbar is one of the French-speaking world's most important writers. Her novels include Sh�razade, Marguerite, La jeune fille au balcon, and Soldats. She was born in Algeria and lives in Paris, France.Mildred Mortimer is Professor of French at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She has translated Le�la Sebbar's Le Silence des Rives/Silence on the Shores and has written several works on North African literature, including Maghrebian Mosaic: A Literature in Transition and Journeys through the French African Novel. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.