Machi Mushkil: A closer look at destiny in the Maghreb, a work by Analía Iglesias was published by the firm Editorial en el Mar, with a main title that could be translated as “No Problem” or “Everything’s Fine.” A mixture between chronicle and poetry, her stories occupy the brief space within the personal realm and pay tribute to the Maghreb region not seen by tourists, while describing that moment when otherness from the host culture is surmounted. In Alberto Mrteh’s Meshi Shughlek: None of Your Business, published by Huerga y Fierro, we are led through a tale of 52 visits to a hammam, into the real Morocco, distant from Orientalism and exoticism, allowing us to enter the world of traditions and customs. As the Moroccan saying goes, “you never leave the hammam the same way you went in.”

The event will be attended by the authors and Mohamed El Morabet, winner of the Malaga Novel Prize for 2022.

Analía Iglesias. Born in Córdoba, Argentina, she has focused her work as a journalist and writer on gender, human rights, the environment, science and culture. She lived in Rabat for almost four years and has been residing in Spain for the last few years. She was an editor at La Voz del Interior and coordinated the blog Eros in El País newspaper for five years. She has also been a university lecturer, film planner and member of juries at film festivals in Europe and Africa. She writes biographies on historical women and has spread awareness about African documentary productions. In addition to co-authoring two books, her experience in Rabat led her to write a book of chronicles and poetry titled Machi Mushkil: A closer look at destiny in the Maghreb.

Alberto Mrteh. Born in Soria, after his studies in Industrial Engineering he worked as an engineer for almost a decade. During his earlier days in Soria, he signed up for an Arabic course that aroused an interest in Morocco and its culture in him, but it was not until he lived in Jaén that he discovered his own destiny: moving to Morocco, thus allowing him to explore the country during his free time. When he finished working as an engineer in 2016, he managed to complete his novel Meshi shuglek. No es asunto tuyo (Meshi Shuglek: None of your business), which led him to change his surname to Mrteh (meaning “at ease” or “comfortable”), which reflects his feelings about Morocco. By delving deep into the country, he has succeeded at translating The Lemon by Mohamed Mrabet and published as “El limón” in Spanish by Cabaret Voltaire. Alberto also talks about his experiences in a blog called El zoco del escriba (The Scribe’s Souk).