[1] He was born in Bab el Assa in Tlemcen province and studied at the University of Oran, obtaining a PhD in comparative literature.

He moved to France during the Algerian civil war, but returned home in 1999.

He has served as the Director General of the National Library of Algeria, and currently teaches comparative literature at the Central Algerian University.

Zaoui's French novel Festin de Mensonges has been translated into English by Frank Wynne.

He has also translated French novels by Mohamed Dib and Yasmina Khadra into Arabic.