Mohamed Choukri
Writing
Biography
Mohamed Choukri (1935–2003), was a Moroccan author and novelist. He is best known for his internationally acclaimed autobiography For Bread Alone (al-Khubz al-Hafi), which was described by the American playwright Tennessee Williams as "A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact". Born in in Ayt Chiker, a small village in the Rif mountains in the Nador province, Morocco, Choukri was raised in an extremely poor family. He ran away from his tyrannical father and became a homeless child living in the poor neighbourhoods of Tangier, surrounded by misery, prostitution, violence and drug abuse. At the age of 20, he decided to learn how to read and write and went on to beome a schoolteacher. In the 1960s, in the cosmopolitan Tangier, he met Paul Bowles, Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams. Choukri's first work, a story entitled "Al-Unf ala al-shati" ("Violence on the Beach"), was published in 1966. International success came with the English translation of Al-khoubz Al-Hafi (For Bread Alone, Telegram Books) by Paul Bowles in 1973. The book was translated to French by Tahar Ben Jelloun in 1980, published in Arabic in 1982 and censored in Morocco from 1983 to 2000. The book later was translated into 30 languages. Mohamed Choukri died of cancer in 2003. He was buried at the Marshan cemetery in Tangier; the minister of culture, numerous government officials, personalities and the spokesman of the king of Morocco attended the funeral. Before he died, Choukri created a foundation that protects his copyrights, manuscripts and personal writings.
Known For
Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bernard Pivot. It ran for fifteen years (724 episodes) from January 10, 1975, to June 22, 1990, and was one of the most watched shows on French television (around 6 million regular viewers). It was broadcast on Friday nights on the channel France 2 (which was called "Antenne 2" from 1975 to 1992). The hourlong show was devoted to books, authors and literature. The format varied between one-on-one interviews with a single author and open discussions between four or five authors.
Apostrophes
The true story of Moroccan writer Mohamed Choukri, who grew up in poverty and illiteracy, with a violent father and a submissive mother who was the family's sole source of support.
For Bread Alone
The documentary explores the cultural memory of Morocco through the testimonies of artistic figures such as Paul Bowles, Mohamed Choukri or Mohamed Mrabet.