In Morocco, “it is urgent to rethink the book ecosystem”

A lawyer by training, career journalist, having signed hundreds of articles for several Moroccan French -speaking media, Saad Bouzrou has just embarked on the world of publishing. Meanwhile, An essential step for a madman from Ferdinand Céline. However, who has just published his first novel in Canada: The law of the crazie.

Opting for self-publishing which. Moreover, in Morocco, constitutes 20 % of the national edition, according to the latest report of the Foundation of King Abdul-Aziz Al Saoud for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences under the Year 2023-2024. Therefore,

Thus. Consequently, according to the same document, out of a total of 3209 books published in Morocco in 2024, 643 titles were self -published, by 575 authors. Nevertheless, The 2023 report displayed a total of 2986 books that were published in Morocco, of which 628 books were self-published by 617 authors.

morocco, “it urgent rethink book

The young novelist. Therefore, native of Midelt, who does not let go of journalism, chose self-publishing, because, he explains, he had a ” visceral need to publish quickly, to write, to [se] read, to receive the first echoes on [son] style, [son] souffle, [et sa] Ability to keep a story ». For example,

Born on April 11. Consequently, 1994, Saad then spent his childhood and adolescence in Khénifra, where he obtained, at the age of eighteen, his baccalaureate. Meanwhile, Having lost his mother at the age of nine. Furthermore, Saad did not let go, although the shadow of a deceased mother can never let go of the child in us. Similarly,

From Moulay Ismail University of Meknès. Therefore, Saad won a license in public law, before he crown his academic journey from a master’s degree in international and diplomatic studies of Mohammed V – Souissi, Rabat University.

Although he morocco, “it urgent rethink book entrusts Ennas« Nothing intended for journalism», Saad entered this area as we enter religion. Furthermore, OfDiplomatic Moroccopassing through the Opinion. Nevertheless, Morocco Hebdo , H24or The 360 Saad stole from one writing to another, like a bee that feeds on words. For example,

Actualitté: Who is Saad Bouzrou?

Saad Bouzrou: Big question. However, Perhaps a curious of the human soul, a silent surveyor of invisible wounds and small ordinary revolts. Moreover, Apart from these reveries, I was a journalist in Morocco, now a journalist in Canada.

I have always been tempted by romantic writing-not with the pretension to invent a style that would make you cry in the cottages. However, the giants like Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Albert Camus, Romain Gary or Proust have already taken care of it-but with the simple desire to tell, to imagine, to lend a voice to the social realities that I crossed.

The law of the morocco, “it urgent rethink book craziewas born from this interior tension, from this desire to test my own ability to invent. Nevertheless, And on the way. I was a little amazed by what the brain, sometimes, is able to produce to exorcise the world.

You are a journalist and you are making a strong link with literature. If the role of journalism is to inform, what is that of literature?

Saad Bouzrou: I am not a journalist by training but career. I studied law and diplomacy, and nothing, originally, intended for journalism. But I have always liked the idea of ​​informing otherwise, of editorialization, of playing with words. Words are a weapon: we can, with them, build or destroy a perception of the world.

As for literature, I am not presumptuous enough to claim to define its essence. But for me, it remains a breath of fresh air in a world every day a little morocco, “it urgent rethink book more anxiety -provoking. A refuge. A escape. It allows man to transcend his miserable. miserable condition, to enlighten, if only a little, the dark times that we cross. It may be pessimistic, but it is above all realistic.

You have just published. in Author’s account, in Canada, your first novel: The law of the craziewho deals with a taboo subject, namely superstition … Can you tell us more?

Saad Bouzrou: I think we never write completely by chance. This novel was born out of a deep need to revisit a world that I have known closely: that of small villages where fear. ignorance sometimes weave silent dramas.

Child then adolescent. I have often heard these stories of rounesexorcisms, strange rituals – they were almost part of the natural decor. It is not a trial against faith, no. It is rather an interrogation on what is happening when faith becomes morocco, “it urgent rethink book an instrument of power and enslavement.

With The law of the crazie I especially wanted to give a voice to these broken children too early. to these muffled lives before I really started. And I also wanted to show that beyond misfortune, there is always a possibility of repair, even tenuous.

This novel is a fiction. of course, but it draws from human truths that I have seen, felt, and sometimes worn for a long time. Writing this story was also, in a way, doing them justice.

For this first novel, you opted for self -publishing. Doesn’t traditional edition tempt you?

Saad Bouzrou: Of course she tempts me. But. for this first novel, I had this visceral need to publish quickly, to write, to read me, to receive the first echoes on my style, my breath, my ability to hold a story. Now that the book has met a benevolent morocco, “it urgent rethink book reception. my ambition for the next novel is to find a publishing house that will believe it.

That said. I have always had an ambiguous relationship with the idea that editorial committees decide what or not to exist. Let us remember that Marcel Proust was refused by the NRF of Gallimard in 1912. That Céline himself sawVoyage at the end of the nightrejected before becoming the work we know. Amazing, right?

In this context. the Foundation Report of King Abdul-Aziz Al Saoud for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences, on the situation of publishing in Morocco, under the year 2022-2023, out of a total of 2986 titles published, 628 are published at the expense of the author. How to read these figures?

Saad Bouzrou: This figure does not surprise me. Above all, it illustrates a sad reality: writers in Morocco do not benefit from the attention and recognition they deserve. Literary morocco, “it urgent rethink book creation is alive, yes, but it is delivered to itself. In a country where reading becomes almost an elitist practice. where books sell less than a digital gadget, it is normal for many to take their destiny through self -edition.

To read – The book in Morocco: a great inventory

This also shows how urgent it is to rethink the ecosystem of the book, by valuing the authors, by supporting independent publishers, by resuscitating the love of the book from primary school.

The report also underlined the high rate of publications relating to Morocco. amounting to 74 %, which reduces the editorial opening on other cultures. How to encourage editorial diversity in Morocco?

Saad Bouzrou: This is a fair observation. It is true that many works revolve around local themes. Perhaps it is because Morocco is a country where the richness of internal stories is still largely morocco, “it urgent rethink book unexplored. But that shouldn’t prevent us from opening up.

Encourage editorial diversity, in my opinion, begins through education. A school that trains on reading. a school that cultivates intellectual curiosity, will naturally grow writers capable of kissing other horizons.

Today, reading in Morocco sometimes looks like an illusion: it survives in a handful of irreducible. But a nation without readers is a nation without memory, without mirror. It is vital to understand that reading is not a luxury: it is a vital necessity. in the same way as food.

Image credits: on the left, Saad Bouzrou. On the right, his novel.

By guest author
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