Literature of Morocco for a General English-Reading Audience

For language learning:

• Sakulich, Aaron. Moroccan Arabic: Shnoo the Hell is Going on Hnaa? A Practical Guide to Learning Moroccan Darija (2009)

Novels:

• Mhani Alaoui’s two novels: Dreams of Maryam Tair: Blue Boots and Orange Blossoms (2015) for fiction with modern Moroccan history and magical realism, and Aya Dane (2018) for contemporary fiction beginning in Boston and exploring creativity, identity, and displacement.
• Hamdouchi, Abdelilah. The Final Bet: An Arabic Detective Novel 2008 translated by Jonathan Smolin (Arabic: Al-rihān al-akhīr 2001)
• Lalami, Laila. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005) – a novel about contemporary Moroccan society, written by a Moroccan-American author
• Toufik, Ahmed. Abu Musa’s Women Neighbors – a historical novel set in medieval Morocco, including mystics, romance, and shipwreck

Memoirs:

• Abouzeid, Leila. Year of the Elephant 1989 (Arabic: ‘Ām al-fīl 1983) – from the independence era of the 1950s. You can read my review.
• Mernissi, Fatima. Dreams of Trespass (1995) – a famous feminist, sociologist, and social critic writes about her childhood in a traditional home of Fes in the 1940s.

Short stories:

• Mohammed Zefzaf is well known for his short stories depicting daily life, but they’re not published in English yet to my knowledge. I found three stories in translation in an article, and would be happy to send a copy on request.
• Clark, Peter, ed. Sardines and Oranges: Short Stories from North Africa. London: Banipal Books, 2005. (includes Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia)
• Barrière, Loïc. Des nouvelles du Maroc. Paris: Editions Eddif; Editions Paris-Méditerranée, 1999. Just in case you read French…

Folk Literature:

• El Koudia, Jilali. Moroccan Folktales. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2003.
• Peyron, Michael, trans. and ed. Berber Odes: Poetry from the Mountains of Morocco – a beautiful little collection!

For Kids:

• Evan Turk, The Storyteller (2016)