Essaouira – Best-selling Moroccan author Leila Slimani is set to launch her latest novel, “The Country of the Others,” in Morocco with a five-city book tour.
Kicking off in Tangier on March 21, Slimani will visit Rabat, Casablanca, Meknes, and spend two days in Marrakech, according to a press release from the French Institute in Morocco.
The author’s latest novel is a trilogy she based on the life of her grandmother. The novel looks at Moroccan society in the build up to independence in 1956.
Slimani was born in 1983 in Rabat but moved to Paris at the age of 17 to attend the Sciences Po University in Paris.
After a brief but impressive career in journalism, Slimani embarked on her first novel. She published “In the Garden of the Ogre” in 2014, winning the Moroccan La Mamounia literary award.
In 2016, she became an international literary star when she published the psychological thriller “The Perfect Nanny,” with the novel appearing in the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2018, the year it was published in English.
Slimani became the first woman to win France’s prestigious Goncourt Prize in 2016 for the same novel.
In recent years, Slimani has become one of the most influential figures in France. Her works highlight issues that may be viewed as controversial by many.
In 2018, Slimani ranked second on Vanity Fair’s 2018 top 50 list of the most influential people in France, while President Macron placed fifth.
Slimani’s tour of Morocco initially included an appearance at the Marrakech book festival, due to take place in late March. The festival named the best-selling author as guest of honor on its program, citing her many international awards.
Due to the Moroccan government’s initiatives to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, the festival will be postponed.
It remains to be seen if fans of the Paris-based author will be able to see her during the scheduled tour since Morocco today suspended all air and maritime links transport links with France after the number of confirmed cases in the country hit 2,876.
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