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Ouarzazate – Moroccan-Belgian Rachida Lamrabet won the Ultima Award For Literature on Tuesday, February 18. The Ultima For Literature is a cultural award from the Flemish community and comes with a cash prize of €1000.
Lamrabet is a Belgian author of Moroccan origin, she works as a lawyer for the Center for Equality of Opportunity and Opposition to Racism in Brussels.
The Ultimas jury admired the work of Lamrabet, describing her as “a talented writer who tells stories that are not told by anyone else,” reported Flanders Literature.
The jury adds “ Her electric work introduces a new- and much-needed – voice to Flemish literature. In her complex, multilayered stories she matches literary erudition with empathy.”
Her winning novel “Tell Someone” is the story of a Moroccan soldier who fights alongside the French in the First World War. It explores the theme of the soldiers fighting in a war that is not theirs.
The forgotten stories of the soldiers from the colonies is what makes the novel so significant, according to the Ultima jury. The importance of the novel is manifested in its “authentic imaginative style.”
Rachida Lamrabet evokes various topics including identity, racism and social equality. She addresses these topics with “poetic descriptions, with great attention to detail as well as with nuance and precision” says the Ultima jury.
The annual ceremony is sponsored by the Flemish Community in partnership with public broadcaster VRT.
Other winners besides Lamrabet include artist Luc Tuymans who won the lifetime achievement prize for Cultural Service.
