Ali Amazigh
(Nador, 1960) debuted in 2009 with the bilingual book of poetry Opkomst/Anqar (Ascent/Anqar). The poetry of Ali Amazigh, who was born in Morocco as Ali Oulad Saddiq, has been written in Tifinagh, Berber writing. At school this language (Tamazight) was banned, however, which he saw as an obstacle for his development. "We felt taken for a ride that outside the teacher spoke the language and in class spoke Arabic", he said in an interview with Amazightv. However, he is positive about present developments. "Now fortunately we are free to talk Tamazight " In the early 1970s he listened to engaged Amazigh music and decided to start writing. In 1974 he moved to the Netherlands, but he was still intrigued by his mother tongue. Forty poems of his, in praise of the culture of his ancestors, have been translated into Dutch by the linguist Khalid Mourigh.
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Wintercafé 1: Godless in Morocco
A programme on rule breaking heart and soul: Berber writer Mohamed Choukri from Morocco. In his autobiographical novel For Bread Alone (1973) he wrote about everything God had forbidden; his youth as a vagabond in Tangier, where he survived in a world of violence, prostitution, alcohol and drugs. When in 1973 For Bread Alone appeared in English, Tennessee Williams called it 'a true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact.' Morocco banned the book until 2000, three years before Choukri's death. Three Moroccan writers talk about the meaning of Choukri for them today: the poet Ali Amazigh, who learned to write in later life, just like Choukri, and who is now writing a confession novel; Naima Albdiouni whose debut novel Voyeur (2008) is also set in Tangier, and columnist Mohammed Benzakour, who, like Choukri, seeks controversy and pursues it. Host: Asis Aynan.
