The Instituto Cervantes in Fez is bringing together on-line writers from both sides of the border to celebrate the book week

"Despite the lockdown I want to stress the willingness we have in our centre to preserve the link with the audience that follows and appreciates us so much, and we don't want to disappoint their expectations; that's why we are redoubling our efforts to offer a fine cultural programme," the director of the Instituto Cervantes in Fez, Miguel Ángel Sanjosé, told Atalayar in a telephone conversation from Morocco.  

Like the other Cervantes Institute network centres, the one in Fez -one of the seven that exist in the neighbouring country- will celebrate this Cervantes Week -from the 20th to the 27th of April- undoubtedly in a different way due to the global coronavirus pandemic, however with the same passion as every year. "When the lockdown was decreed and the border was closed, everything had to be rethought quickly and the possibilities that remained were few; the main thing is that it should be a re-connection and that is how it is going to be thanks to the online activities," explained Sanjosé.  

The main and most original activity of the centre in Fez - entitled 'Authors read with you' - will unite on-line more than fifty personalities related to culture in Spanish - among writers, Hispanists, translators and publishers - from both sides of the border to read fragments of their favourite books in our language or texts of their own works. "We are very happy because the response has been magnificent," confessed the director of the Cervantes de Fez.  

Among the participants there are predominant figures of Moroccan Hispanism such as Hossain Bouzineb, correspondent of the Royal Spanish Academy in Morocco; Ahmed Ait Belaid, director of the Mohammed VI Cultural Centre for the Dialogue of Civilisations, who collaborated at the request of the Moroccan ambassador in Chile, Hispanist and translator Kenza El Ghali (it should be noted that the Moroccan cultural centre located in the Chilean city of Coquimbo is the only one to be found outside its borders in the world) and the writer and activist with a well-known political career, Abdelkader Chaoui, winner of the Morocco Book Prize in 1999 and president of several Maghreb literary associations. Also present will be AbdoTounsi, president of the Spanish-Arabic Intercultural Circle, and Ahmed Benremdane, president of the Moroccan Association of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies (AMEII). 

But not only figures born in Morocco will participate. Names such as the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, have also joined the event. He opened the activity this Monday with a fragment of 'Fortunata y Jacinta' by Benito Pérez Galdós (this year we also celebrate the centenary of the death of the Canarian author). Likewise, Raquel Lanceros, poet, winner of the Critics Award 2018, or Javier Valenzuela, journalist, author of books set in Morocco and former press correspondent in the country, will be present. 

Beyond the success of having brought together fifty writers, renowned figures of Hispanism, critics or publishers, the activity's great achievement is to highlight the quiet effort made by an increasingly large group of friends of Hispanic culture on the other side of the Strait. "Moroccan Hispanism and Moroccan literature in the Spanish language were little known in Spain, and in the last three years we have wanted to offer means of communication and diffusion so that the lovers of the Spanish language feel acknowledged from the other side of the Strait", points out Maribel Méndez, librarian of the Instituto Cervantes in Fez, who has worked hard on this approach.

"At the end of the day, it's about the union between the two countries, because the fundamental thing is to highlight the importance of cultural diplomacy and, in short, Spanish-Moroccan relations," Méndez sums up for Atalayar. From this quiet but constant work a collaboration with the Moroccan Association of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies has emerged, among other things. The activity can be followed via the Cervantes de Fez profile on Facebook and the centre's YouTube channel. Until Sunday, fans of the centre will be able to enjoy the recordings of half a dozen characters participating in the initiative daily.  

In addition, on Monday 21 April a tribute will be paid to the Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges by means of a video sent from Argentina by the writer Santiago De Luca, director of the magazine Sures, which is published in Tangier, and coordinator of the 'Argentine-Maghrebic Space Jorge Luis Borges', created by the Argentina's diplomatic representation in the region. Santiago De Luca will recite a fragment of 'El Aleph', one of the most representative works of the Argentine writer, accompanied by guitarist Martín Pirola. The date chosen was 21st April in order to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Manuel Mujica Láinez, an Argentine writer who was a great friend of Jorge Luis Borges. 

On April 23, International Book Day, a live reading club will be held by videoconference at 4pm with the Tetuaní poet of Spanish expression Lamiae El Amrani. Those interested in talking with this writer can still apply by sending an email to bibfez@cervantes.es and a link will be sent to participate in the dialogue with the author. 

Likewise, on April 23rd, the result of the III Poetry and Short Story Contest of the Cervantes Institute of Fez, which aims to stimulate literary creation in Spanish among Moroccans, will be made public. "The response has been formidable, which encourages us to continue working in the future along the same lines," said the director of the Instituto Cervantes in Fez, Miguel Ángel Sanjosé, to this publication.