Tahar Ben Jelloun

Tahar Ben Jelloun was born in Fez, Morocco in December of 1944 to a shop keeper and his wife. He received his primary education there in a bi-lingual school, but moved to Tangier with his family at the age of 18 where he attended a French high school. In 1963 he moved to Rabat to pursue his studies in philosophy at the Mohammed V University. While there he wrote a number of small pieces for a local magazine. After participating in a student demonstration in 1965, Jelloun was taken to a military camp where he was detained eighteen months for "being an enemy of King Hassan II." It was during this time that he became inspired, in part by James Joyce's Ulysses, to begin to write poetry as a form of escape from reality and as a soft form of revolt. Jelloun was released in 1968, after which he went on to teach at a high school in Tetouan and then Casablanca. Laws were put into place in Morocco in 1971 that required that classes be taught in Arabic. Due to his French upbringing, and lack of Arabic training, Jelloun was forced to resign from teaching. He then relocated to Paris to pursue his doctorate degree in philosophy. While there, he made a name for himself as a journalist for Le Monde. Jelloun published his first novel, Harrouda, in 1972. He has since written a number of acclaimed novels, including The Sand Child in 1985, plays and essays. Although Jelloun has spent the last 39 years in France, and has become a French citizen, he frequently returns to Morocco and the majority of his works take place in his home country. His writings have won a number of awards, including the Prix Goncourt and the 2004 IMPAC award. Jelloun has become well known for his fight against racism and oppression as well, and is often invited to universities around the world as a guest speaker. He has become known as one of the most influential Moroccan writers of his time.

Sources:

Poklekowski, Doris. "Tahar Ben Jelloun." Berliner Festspiele. International Litterature Festival Berlin, 2002. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://literaturfestival.com/participants/authors/2002/tahar-ben-jelloun.

Sackville, Amy. "Tahar Ben Jelloun: Bound to Morocco." The Independent Books. Independent.co.uk, 03 Mar. 2006. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/tahar-ben-jelloun-bound-to-morocco-468220.html.