Abdellatif Laâbi
Abdellatif Laâbi was born in Fez, Morocco in 1942. He grew up speaking Arabic and at school learned the language of the French colonialist rulers, from whom the country gained its independence in 1956. He then studied Romance language and literature in Rabat, where he later worked as a French teacher and took an active part in the political as well as literary shaping of the recently regained national freedom.
Already as a student he was co-founder of a university theatre and he later joined various left-wing parties. Above all, Laâbi is known for co-founding the cultural and political journal »Souffles« in 1966. Through its strong renunciation of all ideological dogmas and established literary forms, it paved the way for new influences and lent a voice to young writers such as Abdelkebir Khatibi, Tahar Ben Jelloun and Rachid Boudjedra. As a forum for cultural revival within the Arabic realm »Souffles« found a readership beyond the borders of its country and influenced a whole generation of writers, artists and intellectuals. Following the publication of the first twenty-two editions in French and bilingually, the newspaper was published under the name »Anfas« and featured texts only in Arabic. It was banned in 1972 and Laâbi, due to his political stance, was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Even during this time he published »L’arbre de fer fleurit« (1974; t: The iron tree blooms) and »Le Règne de barbarie« (1976; t: The cruel rule), poems he smuggled out from the jail in Kénitra. In 1978 a selection of letters written in prison, »Chroniques de la citadelle d’exil« (t: Chronicles of the citadel of exile; an extended version appeared in 1983), was published. After eight years Laâbi was finally released thanks to international protests. His early years of freedom are described in the novel »Le Chemin des ordalies« (1982; t: The road of ordeals). Laâbi has been living in France since 1985, working as a freelance writer and translator. He has written a number of collections of poems as well as several novels, plays and books for young readers. Works translated into German include the collection of poems »Die Sonne stirbt« (2000; »Le Soleil se meurt«, 1992) and »Die Umarmung der Welt« (2002; »L’Etreinte du monde«, 1993 and »Le Spleen de Casablanca«, 1996), poetry that is unpretentious, rhymeless and rich in imagery, whose softness and irony resolutely defend the dream of human dignity against barbaric forces.
Laâbi was made Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1985. He is a member of the Académie Mallarmé and has a seat on the board of the Maison des écrivains. Among his many awards are the Prix de la liberté of French PEN, the Fonlon Nichols Prize of the African Literature Association, the Prix de poésie Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Prix Albert Droin of the Société des gens de lettres de France and the Prix de l’Afrique méditerranéenne de l’ADELF. Laâbi lives in Créteil, near Paris.
© international literature festival berlin
L’arbre de fer fleurit
P.J. Oswald
Paris, 1974
Le Règne de barbarie
Seuil
Paris, 1980
Le Chemin des ordalies
Denoël
Paris. 1982
Chroniques de la citadelle d’exil
Denoël
Paris, 1983
Histoire des sept crucifiés de l’espoir
Abdellatif Laabi
Rabat, 1983
Discours sur la colline arabe
L’Harmattan
Paris, 1985
L’écorché vif: prosoèmes
Editions l’Harmattan
Paris, 1986
Le baptême chacaliste
L’Harmattan
Paris, 1987
Kerkermeere
Lenos
Basel, 1990
[Ü: Giò Waeckerlin Induni]
Exercises de tolérance
Différence
Paris, 1993
Le spleen de Casablanca
Différence
Paris, 1997
Fragments d’une genèse oubliée
Paroles d’Aube
Grigny, 1998
Le fou d’espoir
Autre Temps
Paris, 2000
Les rides du lion
EDDIF
Casablanca, 2000
Poèmes périssables
Différence
Paris, 2000
Rimbaud et Shéhérazade
Différence
Paris, 2000
Die Sonne stirbt
Brandes & Apsel
Frankfurt/Main, 2000
[Ü: Rüdiger Fischer]
Les rêves sont têtus
Paris-Méditerranée
Paris, 2001
Petit musée portatif
Al Manar
Neuilly, 2002
[Ill. Abdallah Sadouk]
Die Umarmung der Welt
Brandes & Apsel
Frankfurt/Main, 2002
[Ü: Rüdiger Fischer]
L’automne promet
Différence
Paris, 2003
Fragments d’une genèse oubliée
Marsam
Rabat, 2003
Les fruits du corps
Différence
Paris, 2003
Tous les déchirements
Marsam
Rabat, 2003
L’ oeil et la nuit: itinéraire
Différence
Paris, 2003
Le fond de la jarre
Gallimard
Paris, 2004
Ruses de vivant
Al Manar
Neuilly, 2004
[Ill. Mohammed Kacimi]
Écris la vie
Différence
Paris, 2005
La poésie marocaine
Différence
Paris, 2005
Œuvre poétique
Différence
Paris, 2006
Pourquoi cours-tu après la goutte d’eau?
Al Manar
Neuilly, 2006
[Ill. Mahi Binebine]
Mon cher double
La Différence
Paris, 2007
Übersetzer: Rüdiger Fischer, Giò Waeckerlin Induni