R.I.P. Abdelkebir Khatibi

I am heading out to Santa Barbara for a literary festival there, but I did want to stop for a moment and note the passing of the great Moroccan intellectual Abdelkebir Khatibi. Maghreb Arabe Presse, the official news agency of Morocco, announced the news earlier this week. It has been many, many years since I read La Mémoire Tatouée (and I can’t seem to locate a copy; has the book gone out of print?). I remember seeing him, in his brown cloak, as he walked down the corridors of the literature building at the university; he inspired such awe in all of us. You can read notices in Al Jazeera, Le Matin, Le Monde, and El País. Pierre Joris has posted a remembrance on his blog.