Literature is for Salma another form of expression, that enriched her artistic work along the years. Her writings deal with issues that are slightly different from the her production in visual art. Her poems and tales show different stories and emotions, portraying scenes of Chad in a more delicate way, intimate and secret.
In 2004, she published a poetry collection under the title Passion de la pensée (Passion of the Thought):
“It is a book about love as both romanticism and suffering. In sum, it reflects my understanding of this world”.
(Click here for an interview to Salma about her book Passion de la pensée)
In 2013, she contributed to the collective book Aux vents des aléas de la vie (In the winds of the hazards of life). This collection of short stories from Chad deals with themes like expropriation, polygamy and homosexuality in Chad.
In 2014 she contributed to the book Couleurs de l’Existence (Colours of the existance), a collective book of short stories by six writers from Chad. Salma contributed to this publication with the short story Périple sur la reine du Guéra (Journey on the queen of the Guera), the story of two poeachers on a mountain in the region of the Guera guarded by the spirit of the Margaï, the ancestral cult of the people Hadjaraï.
Salma signs a book after the presentation of “Couleurs de l’Existance” at the Institut Français du Tchad in N’djamena
Liaison Prohibée and Homosexuality in Chad
Hereby the short story Liaison Prohibée (Forbidden liaison) , by Salma Khalil.
In this story, Salma narrates the secret love of two women and co-wives, exploring the origin of their feelings, the explosion of love and sensuality and their search for freedom.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Chad. Being a former French colony, the country has inherited the French penal code, which didn’t criminalise sodomy nor other homosexual activity. Nevertheless, LGBTI* people face de-facto discrimination due to heavy prejudice and refusal against homosexuality related to social and cultural factors. There is no report of existing LGBTI organisations in the country, and most same-sex individual and couples live their sexuality secretly.
Therefore, homosexuality, and especially female homosexuality, is mostly not visible, being normally associated with friendship. Wishing to raise interest and dialogue on this issues among Chadian people, Salma explores female same-sex attraction with openness and honesty.
*Initialism for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual and Intersex
