Category: personal

The latest issue of Tingis, the Moroccan American magazine of culture and ideas, includes a long review by Anouar Majid of my book, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.

I took the train to Fes yesterday to give a reading from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits at the Moroccan Cultural Studies Centre at Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University. The students had all read the book and some of my articles beforehand, so we had a very lively and thorough discussion after the reading. I was so impressed with their talent and intelligence–they asked good questions, tough questions, and I was thrilled to have such an engaged group of readers. My only regret is that it was such a short trip (I had to get back to Casablanca, and back to my desk) and I saw nothing of the city. I think the last time I was in Fes was when I was nine or ten, and I really want to go back and do a proper visit.

I had set my novel aside during the hectic move to Casablanca, and when I picked it up again a few weeks ago and reread it, I noticed a strong satirical element throughout. Then I was invited to the Winternachten literary festival, and I was asked if I could take part in a two-day workshop on… satire. It’s perhaps only a coincidence. But I think writing a novel is a bit like converting to a new religion; one starts to see signs everywhere. The workshop became a sign of something the universe was trying to tell me–that I should embrace the satirical element, maybe. It’s all a bit silly, really. Still, the first two days I spent in the Hague proved extremely useful, and made me see a bit more clearly what I am trying to do in my work. (The amusing bit is that we couldn’t even agree on a good definition of satire beyond “We know it when we see it.”)

After the workshop, I met with my Dutch editor, did a few press interviews, and hung out with a good friend of mine. I also read from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits in front of a packed house at Theater aan het Spui. Abdelkader Benali was a great, tough interviewer, and he asked me questions about the book that I don’t think I’ve been asked at any of my readings in the US. I had a wonderful, wonderful time. I even managed to steal some time away to go visit the Vermeers that were on display at Maurithuis, a wonderful little museum in the Hague. The most inspiring element of the whole trip was being surrounded by so many Moroccan and Dutch Moroccan writers, poets, musicians, and artists. I felt so energized and ready to take on the world–or at least the rest of my novel.

I am now in Paris for a couple of days, doing some interviews for the French edition of Hope. More soon, I hope.

Tonight I’ll be reading from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits at the Winternachten Literature Festival. This will be followed by a conversation with Abdelkader Benali. Here are the details:

9:40 PM
Reading and Discussion
Winternachten Literature Festival
The Hague, Netherlands

If you happen to be in town, come by and say hello!

I am in The Hague this week to take part in Winternachten. I’ve visited the Netherlands only once before, and I stayed mostly in Amsterdam then. I remember long afternoons spent walking along the canals, hours and hours spent at the museums (The Night Watch and The Milkmaid were on display), and the taste of those amazing Dutch pancakes. It is my first time visiting The Hague, a city about which I know next to nothing. I hope to find out more.

I have a brief opinion piece in the Guardian about the hoopla surrounding Keith Ellison’s swearing-in ceremony today. A snippet:

Ultimately, however, Keith Ellison was not elected in order to represent Muslims, but in order to represent Minnesotans, regardless of their faith. So I hope that, once the curiosity has waned, the media will remember this important fact. I hope they will let him attend to his work, just like any other Congressperson. I hope they won’t go to him every time they need a sound bite on American Muslims, or, worse, on Islamic fundamentalism. I hope they just leave him alone.

You can read it all here.