Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jellounis a Moroccan writer. The entirety of his work is written in French, although his first language is Arabic. He became known for his 1985 novel L’Enfant de Sable. Today he lives in Paris and continues to write. He has been short-listed for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth1 December 1944
CountryFrance
writing parent different
I belong to a specific category of writers, those who speak and write in a language different from that of their parents.
writing world found
I am glad to have found a readership, but one can’t write only what is likely to sell. A writer is not a shopkeeper. A writer creates an imaginary world that he transmits to others.
commitment writing sincerity
I write about wounds, the eternal treasons of life. It's not very funny, but it's sincere. My commitment is to sincerity.
writing views
I liked Sartre's views but not his writing.
There is a gulf between the Arab peoples and Arab intellectuals.
great
There are very few great poets in the world.
arab
The world does not look to us in the Arab world out of a healthy desire for knowledge.
best man
The intellectual, the man of thought, doubt and analysis, should give the best of himself.
speaks-out engagement world
We must have our say, not through violence, aggression or fear. We must speak out calmly and forcefully. We shall only be able to enter the new world era if we agree to engage in dialogue with the other side.
people liberty use
I do not use the language of my people. I can take liberties with certain themes which the Arabic language would not allow me to take.
friendship laughter love-life
I love life in spite of all that mars it. I love friendship, jokes and laughter.
war average world
What have we achieved since the end of the Second World War? We have allowed petty, bourgeois regimes in which everything is average, mediocre.
speaks-out world speak
We do not have many intellectuals who can speak out for us internationally. We have no writers who are recognized, respected and loved outside the Arab world.
real army bullets
At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets.