This anthology, published in a medium format of 240 pages, offers a general overview of contemporary Moroccan "Zajal" translated into Spanish, and proposes several cultural, poetic, linguistic, and rhetorical approaches to better understand poetry in the Moroccan dialect.
The text of this anthology was selected by a study and translation team that includes poets Idriss Al Masnawi, Ahmed Lemsyeh, Radwan Afandi, Mourad Kadiri, Hmida Belbali, Maimoun El Ghazi, Bouâazza Sanâawi, Adil Lotfi, Dalila Fakhri, Younes Tahouch, Sabah Bendaoud, Mansour E Amiri, Azzedine Cheddadi, and Sarah Oulad El Ghzal.
The poems translated in this anthology are full of metaphors, symbols, and myths and draw on texts, historical references, and diverse human experiences.
In a statement to MAP, the president of the House of Poetry in Morocco, Mourad Kadiri, indicated that this anthology was produced by four Moroccan and Spanish university translators, who selected and translated the works of 14 Moroccan "Zajal" poets.
He stressed that the publication of this anthology is an important step for the House of Poetry in Morocco, as it helps to highlight the richness and diversity of Moroccan poetry, which draws its inspiration from various languages, traditions, and aesthetic and artistic references.
For his part, Francisco Moscoso Garcia, a Spanish academic and translator who contributed to this anthology, described this work as a "precious opportunity" to make Moroccan "Zajal" known to Spanish speakers.
Mr. Garcia, also a professor of linguistics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, noted that this is the first time that an anthology of this scale on Moroccan "Zajal" has been published in the Spanish language, thus allowing Spanish readers to discover the works accumulated by Moroccan poets.
