Controversial Choukri

The life of Moroccan novelist Mohamed Choukri is the stuff of legends: Illiterate until the age of 20, Choukri went on to learn how to read, became a schoolteacher, wrote novels and non-fiction works, and eventually became the head of the Arabic department at a Tangier college. But a controversy has erupted recently: Hassan Aachab, a friend of Choukri’s, now claims that the author started his schooling at the age of eleven, not twenty. Of course, Choukri passed on in November 2003, and can neither corroborate nor deny the charges.

Thanks to Amine for the link.