Initiated by the Marrakech English Book Festival Association, with the support of the British Council, the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad, the Dar El Bacha Museum, the Dar Bellarj Foundation, the British Academy in Marrakech, and the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels, this cultural event, which will continue until the 19th of the current month, aims to be a platform for exchange and communication between Moroccan writers and their English-speaking counterparts, allowing them to share their experiences and debate their literary works.
Chaired by the renowned poet and novelist Yassine Adnan, the festival also aims to foster dialogue between Arabic and international literature, contribute to enriching the literary cultural scene, and offer an opportunity for literature and visual arts enthusiasts to discover English-speaking, Moroccan, and international literary voices.
Speaking during the opening session, Mr. Adnan indicated that this event is intended to be a space conducive to warm reunions between Moroccan writers and their Anglo-Saxon counterparts.
Mentioning the novelties of this new edition, he stated that this biennial festival will henceforth be established as an unmissable annual event on the local and national cultural scene.
This edition will also be marked by the presentation of a new national literary prize, "the Costa Goldex Prize", the first of its kind dedicated to Moroccan works in the English language at the national level, as well as another prize intended to encourage short story writing among students and young people, he noted.
For his part, Alan Keohane, secretary general of the festival and partner in the organisation of this event, stressed that the objective behind this event is to foster the creation of an international platform to shed light on writings in English by Moroccan authors, especially since "this language is becoming increasingly popular, particularly among the younger generations".
Given the lack of events organised in the language of Shakespeare, the organisers had the wise idea of launching this festival to encourage reading in English and offer a space conducive to authors, especially young writers, wishing to write in English, he continued in a statement to MAP.
It should be noted that this second edition welcomes authors whose works are inspired by Marrakech, Morocco, or the Arab world. Among the guests are notably Laila Lalami, a Moroccan writer residing in the United States, whose novel "The Moor’s Account" was a finalist for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, and the British author Fiona Valpy, author of "The Storyteller of Casablanca".
It also includes Amira K. Bennison, a specialist in the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, Jane Johnson with "The Sultan’s Wife", the Indian writer Panit Bhandal, the Iranian author Mardokht Amini, and the Moroccan writer Fouad Laroui.
The festival programme includes various activities, including conferences, book signing sessions, and creative workshops, in addition to activities intended for children.
