Marrakech – Under the warm lights of Rabat’s Abla Ababou Gallery, acclaimed Moroccan novelist and visual artist Mahi Binebine took center stage on Wednesday, April 30, to present his 13th novel La nuit nous emportera (The Night Will Carry Us Away), a deeply personal story rooted in his own family history.
“My name is Mahi Binebine. I am a writer. This evening, I am especially a writer and a visual artist,” Binebine said during the event.
“And I am here at the Abdel Ababou Gallery to present my latest novel, La nuit nous emportera, which is already my 13th novel. I’m all the more delighted because there’s also a superb exhibition by two artists I’m a fan of: Florence Arnold and Christophe Miralès.”
The book launch coincided with the vibrant exhibition of Arnold and Miralès, which Binebine described as “an exhibition full of freshness, vibrancy, and color.” He added, “I’m very happy to see it. I had seen it on social media, but now I get to see it in real life.”
The event is part of a national book tour that has already taken him across Morocco.
“I’m here as part of a national tour that started in the south of Morocco — Agadir, Essaouira, El Jadida, Casablanca, Kenitra, Khenifra, Fez, Tangier, Tetouan… Basically, I’m touring the whole country to promote this novel, which is very close to my heart,” he told MWN.
And close to his heart it is. ”The Night Will Carry Us Away” paints the portrait of a woman who bore the weight of a complex family dynamic.
The novel “tells, in part, the story of my mother — a woman who had a rather difficult life, living between my father, who was the king’s jester, and my brother, who was mentally ill,” Binebine explained. “And in the middle of it all, there was this woman who fought tooth and nail to turn the rest of her children into decent, honest citizens.”
