To be a storyteller is to have the ability to enter another period of time, meet whoever you’d like and fundamentally live the life you’ve always longed for. For this reason, Leïla Slimani became a writer. Her grandparents’ made-up tales about their past, such as a story of how her grandfather had fought a tiger in Germany during the war that she wholly believed until her teenage years, inspired her to realise the freedom that comes with constructing narratives. Becoming the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Goncourt, and being appointed a judge for the International Booker Prize 2023, Leïla is an acclaimed author from whom we wait with exhilarating anticipation for a new novel.