The spiritual city hosts, from April 8 to 14, the eighth edition of the Mediterranean Book Festival which will take place at the "Al Hourria" cultural complex on the theme "Mediterranean Cultures: Multiple Voices." Organized by the "Book Club in Morocco" Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and the urban commune of Fez, this festival is intended as a space for the revitalization of Moroccan culture and the valorization of the country's heritage which is an integral part of the millennial civilization of the Mediterranean rim. This edition will be marked by the awarding of the Fez International Creation Prize 2016 to the plural writer Hassan Nejmi, former president of the Union of Writers of Morocco, as a sign of recognition, consideration, and esteem for his multiple experience in literary, poetic, critical, and media writing open to Mediterranean and universal culture.

A colloquium on the topical theme "Discourse on radical Islam: What issues? What limits? What perspectives?" will also be held with the participation of eminent Moroccan and foreign experts. "The polemical and rarely contradictory discourse on the phenomenon of radicalization has a good press in the media. However, the emergence of a critical synthesis and a hypothetical-deductive evaluation of this discourse, with inclusive connotations, is cruelly lacking," emphasizes the president of the "Book Club" Foundation and director of the festival, Abdelhak Souitat. And to add: "In Morocco, a country targeted by the rhetoric and ideology of jihad, Islamic studies remain most often confined to the small circle of academics specialized in this field. In this context, it seems appropriate to make an analytical inventory of it. One of the major objectives of the Fez colloquium is precisely to present its genesis and evolution and to clarify its ideological and symbolic issues." Furthermore, the program also includes other cultural, artistic, and literary activities including poetic readings, a theatrical performance of a play by Abdelhak Zerouali, the screening of a film in tribute to the filmmaker Farida Belyazid, presentations of works such as "Crimes and Tcharmils" and "Discovering Fez," in addition to debates on "Fez in the eyes of the other," "Fez, arts and traditions," and "The intangible heritage of Morocco."