Writer-in-Residence: Anouar Rahmani’s “The End of the Third World” (Book Preview)

Our new Writer-in-Residence series continues with an exciting preview of Anouar Rahmani’s forthcoming new novel, The End of the Third World—a project seven years in the making. 

The End of the Third World is set in an apocalyptic world where an insidious illness known as the Patriarchy Virus has spread rapidly. This virus attacks women’s wombs and causes hallucinations and death, with no idea of how it is transmitted from person to person. The story follows a woman and her husband, who face a crisis when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant. Her husband disapproves of the pregnancy, and as tensions rise and secrets are revealed, she discovers that her husband is a murderer. Now, the woman must confront the challenges of surviving the virus, her pregnancy, and dealing with her husband’s crime.

With The End of the Third World still forthcoming, this program serves as a sneak preview into a world ravaged by disease and hate, while offering exclusive insight into author Anouar’s process through the near decade-long journey he has undertaken in creating this work. Anouar will be joined in conversation by scholar and translator Kenya C. Dworkin y Méndez.

About the Author:

Anouar Rahmani is an Algerian novelist, journalist, and human rights defender whose literary work boldly challenges societal norms and advocates for freedom of expression, LGBTQ+ rights, and social justice. He has published four novels, each igniting critical discourse and controversy. As a pioneering advocate for human rights, Rahmani was the first to publicly demand the legalization of same-sex marriage in Algeria, breaking one of the country’s most significant taboos. He is also a prominent figure in the women’s rights movement in Algeria and the broader Arab world. Rahmani’s commitment to literature and human rights has earned him prestigious international recognition. In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award and honored by the German Bundestag’s “Parliamentarians for Parliamentarians” initiative. He is a 2022 Artist Protection Fund Fellow and a City of Asylum Writer-in-Residence (2022–2025). His academic journey includes esteemed fellowships such as the Carnegie Mellon Scholars Fellowship (2022–2024) and the Scholars at Risk Fellowship (2023–2024). Rahmani holds a Master’s degree in law, States, and Institutions & International Law from Algeria and a Master’s in Global Communication and Applied Translation from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Forced into exile due to threats and repression, Rahmani now resides in the United States, where he continues his literary and advocacy work.

About the Moderator:

Kenya C. Dworkin y Méndez was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in New York City. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her research interests include Cuban, U.S. Latino, Latin American, and Sephardic literary and cultural studies. She is also an active translator. Her book In Pursuit of ‘Whiteness’: Racial Impersonation, Performance, and Nostalgia in Cuban Immigrant Theater is forthcoming. Other books include Spanish and Empire, En otra voz: Antología de la literatura hispana de los Estados Unidos, and Herencia: The Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature in the United States.

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