Events around Moroccan publishing with En Toutes Lettres – 21-23 October 2024

Organised by Clara Défachel, PhD candidate in Comparative Literature.

The co-founders and co-directors of the Casablanca-based publishing house En Toutes Lettres, Kenza Sefrioui and Hicham Houdaïfa, toured Scotland from 21 to 23 October 2024 for a series of events dedicated to En Toutes Lettres’ independent and inclusive publishing practice.

The first event was co-organised with Dr Aedín ní Loingsigh at the University of Stirling on 21 October. This interactive workshop introduced participants to the core values of En Toutes Lettres, which both produces books for a local Moroccan audience and runs youth-oriented critical thinking and media training programmes. Sefrioui and Houdaïfa stressed the importance of developing collaborative practices at all levels – with local NGOs, with trainees/authors writing as collectives, and with publishers from across the globe.

Photo courtesy of Kenza Sefrioui

Photo courtesy of Dr Uri Horesh

On 22 October, the Institut Francais d’Ecosse in Edinburgh hosted a conversation between Kenza Sefrioui and Clara Défachel around the reedition of the collective title Maroc, la guerre des langues ? Sefrioui discussed Moroccan society’s inherent multilingualism, the role of translation in Morocco, and the challenges that come with publishing in French from the Global South.

Photo courtesy of the Institut Francais d’Ecosse

The final event took place at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews as part of the School of Modern Languages’ Byre World programme on 23 October. Houdaïfa and Sefrioui discussed what it means, for them, to publish for and from Morocco today, examining both local challenges to book production and distribution and strategies to bring readers to their books. The talk ended by looking at the future, considering whether the choice of Rabat as the 2026 UNESCO World Book Capital might bring hope to Moroccan book professionals and activists.

Photo courtesy of Prof Nicki Hitchcott

The organiser would like to thank Kenza Sefrioui and Hicham Houdaïfa as well as all institutions which supported these events:

• The Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH)
• The School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews
• The Languages and Literature Division at the University of Stirling
• The Institut Francais d’Ecosse