The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women.

I am a Moroccan writer of French expression.

Intellectuals try to keep going. But their situation is very difficult. Those who have had the courage to voice their opposition have often paid a very high price.

I am a guest of the French language. My poems in French are born of my interaction with the French language, which is not the same as that of a French poet.

Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare - and precious as a pearl.

I am glad to have found a readership, but one can’t write only what is likely to sell. A writer is not a shopkeeper. A writer creates an imaginary world that he transmits to others.

I don't feel guilty about expressing myself in French; nor do I feel that I am continuing the work of the colonizers.