On Friday 25 November 2022, one of the presentations of the ancient city of Marrakech, the first edition of the Marrakech English Book Festival.
Adnan Yasin, President of the Marrakech English Book Festival said: “Today with a different kind of book. Moroccans now write in English and this demonstration was an opportunity to introduce Moroccan literature written in Shakespeare and this was settled between us from the cities of Laayoune, Agadir and Casablanca. ”
At the beginning of the first session of the English Book Festival, the Moroccan novelist and media himself explained that this cultural event “begins with an inspiring city with a historical depth in its relationship with writers, which was very active during the “Saadi” era in the vicinity of the Clerical Mosque.
Therefore, the palm capital has been known to make books for centuries. By announcing this demonstration, we would therefore like to illuminate new formulas aimed at preserving a place for Moroccan literature in the Shakespeare language on the global map. ”
“We urgently need the initiative to celebrate British writers, and for Anglo-Saxon readers, English-speaking translators, Moroccan writers, and British publishers, our civilization and the moment of sharing experiences and ideas between writers who have written about customs and nations to talk about.”
He continued: “We also want it to strengthen the cultural dynamic of the city of writing Marrakech”, supplied: “We know that we have international and regional exhibitions of francophone writers, This celebration of the English book is an attempt to open up to the world, given the transformations that our education knows, The orientation towards English, the existence of an important class of Ang Saxonians who are university graduates and specialists in English literature in the faculties of arts and humanities, and a group of communities that have settled our country, and they need an English book that is not sufficiently available “.
Adnan went on to say: “We are aiming for this festival to be an opportunity to showcase books about the city of Marrakech and other Moroccan borders by writers from Britain, such as Philip Brebner’s Shadows of Marrakech, Rashid Khoya, author of Deams of Butterflies, and Zakaria Ait Orais, owner of it Pleased to kill.
Rashid Khoya, an author of “Butterfly Dreams” in English, said: “The festival transformed the city of joy into a city of reading and writing and meeting young creators, Moroccan writers and foreigners in the language of Shakespeare, translators and publishers from the speaking countries. This cultural event thus turns into a space for vaccination, exchange of experiences and benefits from the meeting with publishers. Our country is represented in the language of Shakespeare, the language of science and culture, which is increasing during these years.”
The event will be held over 3 days in many of the city’s antique spaces. such as the Blarg House, the Sharifah House, the Hakki Café of the World and the Arab House, In partnership with the British Business Association in Morocco, the British Moroccan Association, the British Academy School in Marrakech, Qadi Ayyad University and other partners and you’ll know the participation of a number of British writers and writers, such as Richard Hamilton. and James von Leyden, Saeed al-Ruas and Bernabé Rogerson, as well as the literary translators’ Lulu Norman and Marcia Lancs Calle, and the Lebanese writer Anisa Helou.