Mounsi

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Mounsi (born 1951) is a French novelist and singer. He was born in Kabylie, Algeria, and moved to France with his father when he was seven. He grew up in the red-belt suburbs of Paris, in Nanterre. In his youth he was involved in petty crime and spent time in a borstal, where he found his voice as a writer after reading François Villon.

His only work to be translated into English is The Demented Dance, published in English as Black Amber (2003); it was originally published in France in 1986. The novel draws on his life in the rough suburbs and has a mood similar to the film La Haine. It won praise in the UK and earned several prizes. In 2004 he received the first 3AM Good Sex Prize in London.

Among his other books are La Cendre des Villes (Lauréat de la Bourse du Centre national du livre) and Le Voyage des Ames (Prix de l'Astrolabe-étonnants voyageurs), Territoire d'outre-ville, and Les sauvageons expliqués aux fils des ministres. Le Nouvel Observateur called him the 'Boris Vian of the Inner City.' He has also written plays and recorded three albums for the French label Disques Motors.