Mohamed Choukri's Literary Journey

Mohamed Choukri (1935–2003), who did not learn to read or write until the age of twenty, is a key contrarian voice in twentieth-century Arabic literature.

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

Mohamed Choukri’s final visit to his birthplace:

“In 1993 I visited Nador. I hadn’t been there for over half a century, since the mass exodus caused by the famine. The Elmas Association invited me to speak to an audience, and I read The first chapter of al-Khubz al-Hāfi. The discussion was exciting and intimate among the young crowd but very unpleasant and narrow-minded among the older people there.
I remember our house, which was on the verge of collapse. I remember the scavengers hovering in the sky as my family migrated on foot to Tangier. I also remember the lifeless trees and the grim faces on kids and adults alike, both caused by the misery of drought. I was seven years old.
We tried in vain to locate people who remembered one of my father's uncles in the village neighboring Had Bni Chiker, Known for its market. My mother was from the village of Arhwanin. When the old man who guarded the village mosque seemed reluctant to remember my father's family, I thought that this might not be the village we were looking for after all. I had a strong sense that it wasn’t right. I just couldn't find anything that recalled what I’d been told about it throughout my childhood. None of the people who had migrated from the village ever went back to reclaim their origins or residences. Those who did go back did so only because of their connection to the land (which you couldn’t sell without being disgraced) and their desire to both reestablish relationship with family members who were still alive and pay their respects to the ones who had died. They would then return to the safe place where they had settled, reassured that no one--living or dead--would curse them.”

Wujūh, Mohamed Choukri
Faces, trans. Jonas Elbousty

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

Grateful to Ursula Lindsay for her fascinating piece on Mohamed Choukri in ⁦@nybooks⁩, where she reviews both Tales of Tangier and Faces.
⁦@Georgetown_UP⁩
⁦@yalepress⁩ ⁦@MChoukriAuthor⁩ https://t.co/RjP8Sjc5NG

[M Lynx Qualey @mlynxqualey]

written by the amazingest Maria Dadouch. 💚💚💚

[Khalid Lyamlahy @khalidlym]

The new issue of the journal "Présence Africaine" @PAEditions is dedicated to Senegalese film director and writer Ousmane Sembène https://t.co/7wg3ZmGB0H #OusmaneSembène #SembèneOusmane #Africancinema #PrésenceAfricaine

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

I hope to see some of you this afternoon!

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

يونس البستي لـ"المجلة": شكري فتح السرد العربي على المكبوتات https://t.co/g9xAKjikAz
I was interviewed by Osama Esber, a prominent poet and translator, about Mohamed Choukri's writings.

أجرى معي الشاعر والمترجم المتميز أسامة اسبر الحوار التالي عن أعمال محمد شكري.

[Shady M. Qubaty - شادي بن محمد آل قباطي @ShadyQubaty]

Beautiful morning @Yale catching up with my dear Professor, @JElbousty, to celebrate the launch of his seminal translation of 'Faces' by @MChoukriAuthor. Make sure to get your copy and keep your eyes out for more books in the pipeline. Don’t miss it! 📚 #ArabicLit #MohamedChoukri

[Khalid Lyamlahy @khalidlym]

"Une bibliothèque « poreu[se] à tous les souffles du monde », pour paraphraser #Césaire" - Claire Riffard (ITEM,CNRS) dans @AttendantNadeau à propos de la #bibliothèque personnelle de Léopold Sédar Senghor, récemment sauvée d'une mise aux enchères https://t.co/orbkZgRgmv #Senghor

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

Tales of Tangier @yalepress and Faces @Georgetown_UP

[Mohamed Choukri's Literary Journey @MChoukriAuthor]

"Many people are shocked by Choukri’s graphic depictions, but history will vindicate him as the most far-seeing writer of his generation. He made his life an open book and held it as a mirror to our own demons." https://t.co/qncDR0xf7Y #tingismagazine

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

“The untranslatable is the space where the differences between languages and cultures come to the surface. This does not mean that certain things can never be rendered, but rather that we must never stop trying to render them.”

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

Thrilled to see “Faces” featured in al-Akhbar, a leading Moroccan newspaper!

[Mohamed Choukri's Literary Journey @MChoukriAuthor]

"He gives Genet an introduction to Russian literature;... Both authors seem to enjoy the literary back-and-forth, but it’s Choukri who’s translating for Genet, bringing him books, and waiting in the café hoping he’ll come back."

https://t.co/F3hdQRpgQG

[Eric Calderwood @eric_calderwood]

Mark your calendars! On October 23, Moroccan novelist, poet, and cultural critic @yassinadnan1 (the author of the critically acclaimed HOT MAROC) will be at the Illini Union Bookstore in Urbana to discuss his work. Hope to see you there!

[ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social @arablit]

Congratulations to Stella + @sawadhussain (Edo's Souls), Lena + Nadiyah and Anam (Yoghurt and Jam), and all.

[WorldLiteratureToday @worldlittoday]

“The possibility of publishing a translation of a work of modern Arabic literature is now more difficult than it has ever been.”

Translator Roger Allen is in conversation with Jonas Elbousty on the WLT Weekly today.

https://t.co/dlZCOFganz

[M Lynx Qualey @mlynxqualey]

Join us:

[Jonas Elbousty @JElbousty]

So grateful to these colleagues for their pre-publication reviews of Faces.

@Georgetown_UP

[Souffles-Monde / أنفاس العالم @SoufflesMonde]

Nadia Guessous is an Associate Professor of Feminist and Gender Studies at Colorado College. Her piece for our latest roundtable issue seeks to imagine a decolonial epistemology via memory reclamation, care, and interdependence...
https://t.co/RGnFFilROK