Abdellatif Laâbi is a Moroccan poet, journalist, novelist, playwright, translator and political activist, born in 1942 in Fes, Morocco.
Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles, an important literary review in 1966. It was considered as a meeting point of some poets who felt the emergency of a poetic stand and revival, but which, very quickly, crystallized all Moroccan creative energies: painters, film-makers, men of theatre, researchers and thinkers. It was banned in 1972, but throughout its short life, it opened up to cultures from other countries of the Maghreb and those of the Third World.
Abdellatif Laâbi was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes of opinion" (for his political beliefs and his writings) and served a sentence from 1972–1980. He was, in 1985, forced into exile in France. The political beliefs that were judged criminal are reflected in the following comment, for example: "Everything which the Arab reality offers that is generous, open and creative is crushed by regimes whose only anxiety is to perpetuate their own power and self-serving interest. And what is often worse is to see that the West remains insensitive to the daily tragedy while at the same time accommodating, not to say supporting, the ruling classes who strangle the free will and aspirations of their people."
Awards and honors
In 1985, Laabi was made Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
In 1999, he won the Fonlon-Nichols Award
In 2006, he received the Alain Bosquet Prize, for all of his work
In 2008, Laabi won the Naim Frashëri Prize
In 2008, he was awarded the Robert Ganzo Prize of Poetry
In 2009, he received the Prix Goncourt de la Poésie
In 2011, he won the Benjamin Fondane International Prize for Francophone Literature In 2011, he was awarded Academie française’s Grand prix de la francophonie In 2015, he won the Prix Ecritures & Spiritualités In 2020, he was awarded the Mahmoud Darwish Award for Culture and Creativity In 2021, Laabi won the Roger Kowalski Award for Poetry, for his collection, Presque riens
Works
Each year for a first edition links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article for poetry or "[year] in literature" article for other works:
Poetry
1980: Le Règne de barbarie. Seuil, Paris (épuisé) 1980: Histoire des sept crucifiés de l'espoir. La Table rase, Paris 1981: Sous le bâillon le poème. L'Harmattan, Paris 1985: Discours sur la colline arabe. L'Harmattan, Paris 1986: L'Écorché vif. L'Harmattan, Paris 1990: Tous les déchirements. Messidor, Paris (épuisé) 1992: Le soleil se meurt. La Différence, Paris 1993: L'Étreinte du monde. © La Différence et © Abdellatif Laâbi, Paris 1996: Le Spleen de Casablanca. La Différence, Paris 2000: Poèmes périssables, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris (épuisé) 2003: L'automne promet, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris 2003: Les Fruits du corps, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris 2005: Écris la vie, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris, Prix Alain Bosquet 2006 2003: Œuvre poétique, La Différence, coll. Œuvre complète, Paris 2007: Mon cher double, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris 2008: Tribulations d'un rêveur attitré, coll. La Clepsydre, La Différence, Paris 2010: Oeuvre poétique II, La Différence 2016: Le Principe d'incertitude, La Différence 2018: L'Espoir à l'arraché, Le Castor astral 2020: Presque riens, Le Castor astral 2022: La poésie est invincible, Le Castor astral
Novels
1969: L'Œil et la Nuit, Casablanca, Atlantes, 1969 ; SMER, Rabat, 1982; La Différence, coll. "Minos", Paris, 2003 1982: Le Chemin des ordalies. Denoël, Paris; La Différence, coll. "Minos", Paris, 2003 1989: Les Rides du lion. Messidor, Paris (épuisé); La Différence, coll. "Minos", Paris, 2007
Drama
1987: Le Baptême chacaliste, L'Harmattan, Paris
1993: Exercices de tolérance, La Différence, Paris
1994: Le Juge de l'ombre, La Différence, Paris
2000: Rimbaud et Shéréazade, La Différence, Paris
Children's books
1986: Saïda et les voleurs de soleil ; bilingue français-arabe ; images de Charles Barat. Messidor/La Farandole, Paris, (épuisé) 1995: L'Orange bleue ; illustrations de Laura Rosano. Seuil Jeunesse, Paris