Malhun

Guest Post by Houda Elfchtali | Meknes, Morocco Arabic version here | انظروا هنا للنسخة العربية Houda Elfchtali Long excluded from the world of music–history makes no mention of female Moroccan artists before the 1940s–Moroccan women had to fight to be able to express their talent. There were eventually some developments in this arena, with national music conservatories opening to women in the early 1940s in Fez, Tetouan, Marrakech, Rabat, Meknes and Casablanca.

I am delighted to announce my latest Special Project, developing the first English anthology of Moroccan Malhun poetry, building on my PhD dissertation and fieldwork and time spent in Morocco on and off, over more than a decade. Mbarek Sryfi, poet and professor at The University of Pennsylvania, is co-translator. Growing up in Morocco, he is a long-term fan of Malhun. The NEA is helping to fund our work (details here).