Abdellatif Laabi
Encyclopedia
Abdellatif Laâbi is a Moroccan poet, born in 1942 in Fes
, Morocco
.
Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles
, an important literary review in 1966. It was considered as a meeting point of some poets who felt the emergency of a poetic stand and revival, but which, very quickly, crystallized all Moroccan creative energies: painters, film-makers, men of theatre, researchers and thinkers. It was banned in 1972, but throughout its short life, it opened up to cultures from other countries of the Maghreb
and those of the Third World
.
Abdellatif Laâbi was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes of opinion" (for his political beliefs and his writings) and served a sentence from 1972-1980. He was, in 1985, forced into exile in France
.
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles
Souffles (magazine)
Souffles was established by a small group of self-professed 'linguistic guerrillas' as "a manifesto for a new aesthetics in the Maghreb". This magazine became a conduit for a new generation of writers, artists, and intellectuals to stage a revolution against imperialist and colonial cultural...
, an important literary review in 1966. It was considered as a meeting point of some poets who felt the emergency of a poetic stand and revival, but which, very quickly, crystallized all Moroccan creative energies: painters, film-makers, men of theatre, researchers and thinkers. It was banned in 1972, but throughout its short life, it opened up to cultures from other countries of the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
and those of the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
.
Abdellatif Laâbi was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes of opinion" (for his political beliefs and his writings) and served a sentence from 1972-1980. He was, in 1985, forced into exile in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Quotations
"Everything which the Arab reality offers that is generous, open and creative is crushed by regimes whose only anxiety is to perpetuate their own power and self-serving interest. And what is often worse is to see that the West remains insensitive to the daily tragedy while at the same time accommodating, not to say supporting, the ruling classes who strangle the free will and aspirations of their people."Poetry
- 19801980 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell started the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry....
: Le Règne de barbarie. SeuilÉditions du SeuilÉditions du Seuil is a French publishing house created in 1935, currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The seuil is the whole excitement of parting and arriving...
, Paris (épuisé) - 19801980 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell started the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry....
: Histoire des sept crucifiés de l'espoir. La Table rase, Paris - 19811981 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement....
: Sous le bâillon le poème. L'Harmattan, Paris - 19851985 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The term "New Formalism" was first used in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May 1985 issue of the AWP Newsletter in an attack on the poetry movement...
: Discours sur la colline arabe. L'Harmattan, Paris - 19861986 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* New American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois....
: L'Écorché vif. L'Harmattan, Paris - 19901990 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg crowned "Majelis King" in Prague on May Day...
: Tous les déchirements. Messidor, Paris (épuisé) - 19921992 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:The Forward Book of Poetry, an annual anthology of best British poems, is published for the first time by the Forward Poetry Trust. By 2003, the publication was selling 5,000 to 7,000 copies a year...
: Le soleil se meurt. La DifférenceLa DifferenceLa Difference is a Canadian current affairs television miniseries which aired on CBC Television in 1968.-Premise:This series, hosted by Peter Desbarats and Richard Gwyn, concerned cultural differences between English and French Canada, providing historical context for these distinctions...
, Paris - 19931993 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
: L'Étreinte du monde. © La Différence et © Abdellatif Laâbi, Paris - 19961996 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 as way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.* The movie Dead Man, written and...
: Le Spleen de Casablanca. La Différence, Paris - 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
: Poèmes périssables, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris (épuisé) - 20032003 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...
: L'automne promet, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris - 20032003 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...
: Les Fruits du corps, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris - 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
: Écris la vie, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris, Prix Alain Bosquet 2006 - 20032003 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...
: Œuvre poétique, La Différence, coll. Œuvre complète, Paris - 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
: Mon cher double, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris - 20082008 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...
: Tribulations d'un rêveur attitré, coll. La Clepsydre, La Différence, Paris - 20102010 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...
: Oeuvre poétique II, La Différence
Novels
- 19691969 in literatureThe year 1969 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Booker Prize is awarded.* "Penelope Ashe", author of the bestselling novel Naked Came the Stranger, is found to be several people who each took a turn writing a chapter of what they described as "junk" in...
: L'Œil et la Nuit, Casablanca, Atlantes, 1969 ; SMER, Rabat, 1982; La Différence, coll. "Minos", Paris, 2003 - 19821982 in literatureThe year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*La Bicyclette Bleue by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.-New books:...
: Le Chemin des ordalies. Denoël, Paris; La Différence, coll. "Minos", Paris, 2003 - 19891989 in literatureThe year 1989 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.-Literature:...
: Les Rides du lion. Messidor, Paris (épuisé); La Différence, coll. "Minos", Paris, 2007
Drama
- 19871987 in literatureThe year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...
: Le Baptême chacaliste, L'Harmattan, Paris - 19931993 in literatureThe year 1993 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Professor Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, becomes the longest running book on the bestseller list of The Sunday Times....
: Exercices de tolérance, La Différence, Paris - 19941994 in literatureThe year 1994 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Kevin J. Anderson - Champions of the Force, Dark Apprentice and Jedi Search*Reed Arvin - The Wind in the Wheat*Greg Bear - Songs of Earth and Power...
: Le Juge de l'ombre, La Différence, Paris - 20002000 in literatureThe year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...
: Rimbaud et Shéréazade, La Différence, Paris
Children's books
- 19861986 in literatureThe year 1986 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Michael Grade. Controller of BBC One, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.-New books:*Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils...
: Saïda et les voleurs de soleil ; bilingue français-arabe ; images de Charles Barat. Messidor/La Farandole, Paris, (épuisé) - 19951995 in literatureThe year 1995 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea is opened by Jimmy Carter....
: L'Orange bleue ; illustrations de Laura Rosano. Seuil Jeunesse, Paris
Other works
- 19831983 in literatureThe year 1983 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ironweed by William Kennedy is published.*Salvage for the Saint by Peter Bloxsom and John Kruse is published. This is the final book in a series of novels, novellas and short stories featuring the Leslie Charteris...
: Chroniques de la citadelle d'exil ; lettres de prison (1972–1980), Denoël, Paris; La Différence, Paris, 2005. - 19851985 in literatureThe year 1985 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Isaac Asimov - Robots and Empire*Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale*Jean M. Auel - The Mammoth Hunters*Iain Banks - Walking on Glass...
: La Brûlure des interrogations ; entretiens-essais (réalisés par J. Alessandra). L'Harmattan, Paris - 19971997 in literatureThe year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...
: Un continent humain ; entretiens, textes inédits. Paroles d'aube, Vénissieux - 20052005 in literatureThe year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....
: D'humus et de lave ; poème manuscrit ; gravures de Bouchaïb Maoual ; édition limitée à 12 exemplaires ; Al Manar
Translations from Arabic
- 19821982 in literatureThe year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*La Bicyclette Bleue by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.-New books:...
: Rires de l'arbre à palabre (poèmes), d'Abdallah ZrikaAbdallah ZrikaAbdallah Zrika is one of the most famous poets of Morocco. His poetry is free, based on spoken language and unrivalled in contemporary Arabic literature in its spontaneity....
. L'Harmattan, Paris - 19831983 in literatureThe year 1983 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ironweed by William Kennedy is published.*Salvage for the Saint by Peter Bloxsom and John Kruse is published. This is the final book in a series of novels, novellas and short stories featuring the Leslie Charteris...
: Rien qu'une autre année (poèmes), de Mahmoud Darwich. Unesco/Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1983. - 19861986 in literatureThe year 1986 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Michael Grade. Controller of BBC One, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.-New books:*Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils...
: Soleil en instance (roman), de Hanna MinaHanna MinaHanna Mina is a Syrian writer, described as "Syria's most prominent novelist".His early novels belong to the movement of social realism, and focus on class conflict; his later works contain "a more symbolic analysis of class differences"...
. Unesco/Éditions Silex, Paris, 1986. - 19871987 in literatureThe year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...
: Autobiographie du voleur de feu (poèmes), d'Abdelwahab al-Bayati. Unesco/Actes Sud, Paris, 1987. - 19881988 in literatureThe year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age*Iain M...
: Je t'aime au gré de la mort (poèmes), de Samih al-QâsimSamih al-QasimSamīħ al-Qāsim Samīħ al-Qāsim Samīħ al-Qāsim ( is an Israeli Druze whose Arabic poetry is well-known throughout Arab World. His poetry is influenced by two primary periods of his life: Before and after the Six-Day War. He joined the Communist Hadash political party in 1967...
. Unesco/Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1988. - 19891989 in literatureThe year 1989 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.-Literature:...
: Plus rares sont les roses (poèmes), de Mahmoud Darwich. Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1989. - 19901990 in literatureThe year 1990 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*J. K. Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She says "I was staring out the window, and the idea for Harry just came. He appeared in my mind's eye, very fully formed...
: La Poésie palestiniennePalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
contemporaine (anthologie). Éditions Messidor, Paris, 1990. - 19901990 in literatureThe year 1990 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*J. K. Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She says "I was staring out the window, and the idea for Harry just came. He appeared in my mind's eye, very fully formed...
: L'Espace du Noûn (poèmes), de Hassan Hamdane. En collaboration avec Leïla Khatib. Éditions Messidor, Paris - 19911991 in literatureThe year 1991 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Douglas Coupland publishes the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularizing the term Generation X as the name of the generation....
: Les Oiseaux du retour. Contes de Palestine, bilingues. En collaboration avec Jocelyne Laâbi. Éditions Messidor/La Farandole, Paris - 19921992 in literatureThe year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...
: La Joie n'est pas mon métier (poèmes), de Mohammed Al-Maghout. Éditions de la Différence, coll. Orphée, Paris - 19971997 in literatureThe year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...
: Retour à Haïfa (nouvelles), de Ghassan KanafaniGhassan KanafaniGhassan Kanafani was a Palestinian writer and a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was assassinated by car bomb in Beirut, allegedly by the Mossad.- Early years :Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani was born in 1936 in the then Acre , British Mandate of Palestine...
. En collaboration avec Jocelyne Laâbi. Actes-Sud, Paris
Adaptations (drama) and other publications
- 19841984 in literatureThe year 1984 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is widely read....
: Va ma terre, quelle belle idée. Pièce tirée du Chemin des ordalies, roman. Compagnie des Quatre Chemins, dirigée par Catherine de Seynes. Paris - 19841984 in literatureThe year 1984 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is widely read....
: Histoire des sept crucifiés de l'espoir. Atelier-théâtre du Septentrion, dirigé par Robert Condamin et Jacqueline Scalabrini. AntibesAntibesAntibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes... - 19841984 in literatureThe year 1984 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is widely read....
: Chroniques de la citadelle d'exil. Théâtre Expression 7, Guy Lavigerie. Limoges, 1984. - 19871987 in literatureThe year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...
: Saïda et les voleurs de soleil. Atelier-théâtre du Septentrion. Antibes, 1987. - 19881988 in literatureThe year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age*Iain M...
: Le Règne de barbarie. Compagnie du Mentir-Vrai, dirigée par Omar Tary. LilleLilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium... - 19881988 in literatureThe year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age*Iain M...
: Journal du dernier homme. Tiré des Rides du lion, roman. Lecture par Edwine Moatti et Denis Manuel. Paris - 19921992 in literatureThe year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...
: Le Retour de Saïda. Atelier-théâtre du Septentrion. Antibes, 1992. - 19941994 in literatureThe year 1994 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Kevin J. Anderson - Champions of the Force, Dark Apprentice and Jedi Search*Reed Arvin - The Wind in the Wheat*Greg Bear - Songs of Earth and Power...
: Le Soleil se meurt. Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui. CasablancaCasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
Autobiography
- 20042004 in literatureThe year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
: Le fond de la Jarre (translated in Spanish: Fez es un espejo, Madrid, ediciones del oriente y del mediterráneo
Footnotes
- Jeune Afrique magazine, September 5, 1990, cited by Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander in "Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam's War" (Victor Gollenz Ltd London 1991): p. 71
Further reading
The World's Embrace consists of poems selected by Laabi from three books published in French over the past ten years: Le Soleil se meurt (The Sun Is Dying), L'Etreinte du monde (The World's Embrace), and Le Spleen de Casablanca (The Spleen of Casablanca).External links
- Pierre Joris on Laabi winning the Prix Goncourt
- Interview (English) with Laabi
- Abdellatif Laabi's website. This website contains links to all issues of artistic journal Anfas/Souffles.
- "Interview (Spanish) with Laabi and poem Pueblo de Madrid, perdón", ediciones del oriente y del mediterraneo