Leading academics and journalists analyse the presence of Tangiers in current Spanish literature

Leading Moroccan and Spanish journalists and academics will discuss next Wednesday at 18:00 in Tangier, the presence of the city of the Strait in current Spanish literature during the presentation of the book "Secret Conversations on Tangier".

Among them, the outstanding and brilliant young journalist of the Moroccan SNRT, Nidal Bouhmala; the hispanist, professor and academic of the University Abdelmalek Essadi, International Higher Institute of Tourism of Tangier, Abdelhak Hiri; the doctor in the specialty Didactics of Languages, Art and History in the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of the University Mohammed V of Rabat, Boutaina Ben El Amin from Tetouan; and the veteran Spanish journalist of Onda Algeciras TV, Adrián Cortés. The moderator will be Oumaima Zreida, a journalist from the Spanish department of SNRT's international radio channel and currently a doctoral student at Abdelmalek Essaadi University.

This event is part of the 5th edition of the Bassamat Festival organised by the Forum for Thought, Culture and Creativity in collaboration with several local institutions. This year the guest city is Granada. In addition to the presentation of Abdelkhalak Najmi's book, there will be poetry readings, musical concerts and a tribute to Professor Bernabé López García.

The 263-page book contains dialogues with more than thirty Spanish authors, writers and poets who set all or part of their works in Tangiers or who have a special relationship with the city on the Strait of Gibraltar. Among them are María Dueñas, Cristina López Barrio, Lorenzo Silva, Javier Valenzuela, Alfonso Armada and Ramón Buenaventura.

The publication of "Conversaciones secretas sobre Tánger" is mainly due to several factors, including the importance of the city of the Strait in the Spanish imaginary over the last two centuries, with special emphasis on Pío Baroja (1872-1956), Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920), Juan Goytisolo (1931-2017) and Ángel Vázquez (1929-1980), among others, who have brought Tangiers closer to Spain.

In art and cinema, in general, and in literature, in particular, Tangier's public spaces are not only places of transit, nor are they merely decorated, but they are also marked by the intentions of the person who narrates the events, describing the private and public spaces and reflecting his or her concerns. Today, it is still a favourite setting and space for many contemporary Spanish writers, poets, journalists, artists and photographers.

The prologue is written by Carmen Ruiz Bravo-Villasante, retired professor of Modern Arab Literature and Thought at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and director of CantArabia editorial.

In the foreword she stresses: "The work, published in Diwan Mayrit, is stimulating in its diversity of experiences. Thanks are due to all those present or represented in the book and, of course, to its author-interviewer. Its sincerity, liveliness and topicality of content make us want to read more and better all the people interviewed by Abdelkhalak, to have access to new interviews and, of course, to go or return... with love... to Tangier".

The work highlights the international and vital role of Tangier and highlights Najmi's journalistic work through interviews, as well as being the subject of his doctoral thesis, which he presented at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM).

Abdelkhalak Najmi (Tangier, 1978) holds a PhD from the Autonomous University of Madrid 2022, and is a graduate of the Toledo School of Translators and the King Fahd School of Translators in Tangier.

He has translated from Arabic into Spanish "Ley de prensa y edición marroquí", published by the Asociación de la Prensa del Campo de Gibraltar (APCG) in 2019, which was presented at the 37th Congress of Journalists of the Strait in Almuñécar (Granada) and at the King Fahd School of Translators in Tangier.

In addition, the translation into Spanish of the book "La vecindad cautelosa" (2021) by the Moroccan journalist Nabil Driouch and of "La otra España" this year 2023, by the former Moroccan Minister of Communication, the Hispanist Mohamed Larbi Messari (1936-2015). He also translated from Spanish into Arabic: 'El problema del Sáhara Occidental. Una visión geoestratégica' by the Mexican academic Ramón Villacaña and, together with the Spanish Arabist, he has translated the novel 'Cementerio marino' by the Libyan author Mohamed Abdelmotalib El Haouni, which is in print.

He has published several journalistic articles, as well as scientific research articles in leading Arab, Spanish, Mexican and Chilean journals. He has also given numerous lectures in Morocco, Spain and Latin America on migration, literature and translation. "Conversaciones secretas sobre Tánger" is the first book published by the Moroccan researcher and translator, currently based in Granada, Abdelkhalak Najmi.

The book is published by the publishing house and bookshop Diwan Mayrit, directed by Noureddin Bettioui, which publishes books by Maghrebi authors with the aim of bringing their works to Spain in order to increase knowledge of the feelings and thoughts of those who live on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar. He has recently opened a new branch of his publishing house in Tangiers to promote the publication of works by Moroccan Hispanic authors.