For over thirty years, until 1925, he helped bring in a period of growth in Judeo-Tunisian Arabic literature. He published two novels, Amour et malice (Love and Malice) in 1912 and Les Cœurs purs (The Pure Hearts) in 1923. Chemla translated multiple titles into Hebrew and Judeo-Tunisian Arabic, including The Jews of Spain at the Time of the Inquisition and The Count of Monte Cristo, which he originally released as a serial and later in full during the 1880s.