From 1954 to 1999, three moments in the life of Malika, a Moroccan countrywoman. From French colonization to the death of King Hassan II. It is her voice we hear in Abdellah Taïa’s stunning new novel, translated by Emma Ramadan, who won the PEN Translation Prize for her translation of Taia’s last novel, A Country for Dying (Seven Stories Press, 2020). Malika’s first husband was sent by the French to fight in Indochina. In the 1960s, in Rabat, she does everything possible to prevent her daughter Khadija from becoming a maid in a rich French woman’s villa. The day before the death of Hassan II, a young homosexual thief, Jaâfar, enters her home and wants to kill her. Malika recounts with rage her strategies to escape the injustices of history. To survive. To have a little space of her own. Malika is Taïa’s mother: M’Barka Allali Taïa (1930-2010). This book is dedicated to her.

This event is in English and is free. Please click here to RSVP.

Abdellah Taïa will also be participating in the PEN World Voices Festival, in the talk Mother Dearest: Understanding our Mothers with Gish Jen and Molly Jong-Fast on Thursday, April 30.

More info here.