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From the Horse’s Mouth Comes the Truth

October 06, 20227:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish and French, with simultaneous interpretation..

On Thursday, October 6, Moroccan writer Meryem Alaoui is visiting Casa Árabe to present her first novel, at an event organized with the cooperation of the Cabaret Voltaire publishing firm and the French Institute of Madrid.

Her literary debut serves us a story with no taboos or moral judgments in which she uses a sense of humor to show us a wild, amusing Morocco where a unique sort of energy can be felt.

Yemía, whose fate is guided by unfortunate decisions which led her to become a prostitute, lives alone in Casablanca with her daughter. A brave, optimistic woman with a strong personality, she shamelessly describes the world she has had the misfortune to live in: her brutish lover, Chaiba; Halima, her depressing workmate who reads the Qur’an between clients; Immui, her mother, who follows strict morals and seems unaware of her daughter’s activities... However when a young woman named Chadlía, whose nickname is Horse’s Mouth, moves into the neighborhood, her future changes completely.

The author will be accompanied by journalist and writer Pepa Blanes, head of Culture at Cadena SER.

“A literary debut that has it all: the least known facet of Morocco, the presence and absence of religion, the status of women... This novel combines all these elements to become a success!”
Le Monde

Meryem Alaoui was born in Rabat, Morocco in 1977. She grew up in Casablanca. With a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from Al Akhawayn University, she has worked for the magazines TelQuel and Nishan. Daughter of the Moroccan poet, academic and politician Driss Alaoui Mdaghri, the author has always considered writing to be something natural, another part of her identity. Her literary debut, From the Horse’s Mouth Comes the Truth, was published in Gallimard’s prestigious White Collection and formed part of the selection of titles shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and Prix de Flore in 2018.
From the Horse’s Mouth Comes the Truth
Alaoui M (c) Francesca Mantovani 1 Editions Gallimard