Macron Visits Moroccan Pavilion at Paris Book Festival Recognizing Morocco as Guest of Honor

Rabat – French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Moroccan Pavilion at the Paris Book Festival on Thursday, where Morocco is taking the spotlight this year as the Guest of Honor. 

He was welcomed by Morocco’s Minister of Culture, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid; Morocco’s Ambassador to France, Samira Sitail; and Latifa Moftaqir, Commissioner of the Pavilion and Director of Morocco’s Archives. 

In front of President Macron, the French and Moroccan national anthems were performed by Moroccan singer Nabyla Maan.

Macron toured the pavilion’s different sections, including an exhibition of maps and documents from Morocco’s national archives, a presentation by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection chaired by Princess Lalla Hasnaa, and a space dedicated to Moroccan publishers, showcasing a broad range of works on Moroccan literature and culture. He also visited the pavilion’s children’s section. 

Minister Bensaid stood on Thursday evening under the glass roof of the Grand Palais in Paris to inaugurate the Moroccan Pavilion at the 2025 Paris Book Festival. Standing before an audience of writers, diplomats, publishers, and artists, Bensaid opened the book festival with confidence.

Morocco steps into this edition of the festival as Guest of Honor, a role Bensaid described with “emotion” and “pride.” But his words moved beyond ceremony. “This is more than a cultural courtesy,” he said. “It’s a sign of friendship between our two countries, one that renews itself through generations.”

The crowd, marked by shared history and mutual curiosity, listened as Bensaid spoke of the ties that stretch across the Mediterranean. For him, language and memory act not as borders but as bridges. “We share our differences,” he said, “and through them, we speak the same desire for dialogue.”

This year’s festival theme, “the sea”, matched Morocco’s spirit. Bensaid described the Mediterranean as a space of origin and the Atlantic as a path toward new futures. “Both seas belong to us,” he said. “They carry our memory and our ambition. And from them, we can shape a future we share.”

He also offered a sharp reflection on Morocco’s cultural strategy, saying the country has made a deliberate choice to place culture at the center of its national journey – Not oil, capital or algorithms. “It’s not machines that shape us,” he said. “It’s stories. And at the heart of it all, there are books.”

His speech paid tribute to the quiet labor behind literature, publishers, editors, booksellers, translators, those who, in his words, “make this daily miracle possible.” He called for books to step outside their traditional spaces and into public life, policymaking, education, and even diplomacy.

The French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, took the stage in response. Her tone mirrored Bensaid’s warmth. She called Morocco “dear to us” and pointed to a relationship built on “deep and enduring ties.” Dati also underlined a shift in the festival’s purpose. No longer just a book fair, it now stands as a cultural celebration, open, lively, and younger in spirit.

“In uncertain times,” she said, “literature helps us understand before we judge. It draws us closer instead of pulling us apart.”

Vincent Montagne, president of the French Publishers Association and head of the festival, reminded the audience in his remarks of Morocco’s weight in the Francophone literary world. From Tahar Ben Jelloun to Leila Slimani, Fouad Laroui to Abdellatif Laâbi, Morocco’s literary presence extends far beyond its borders. “It is a pillar of Francophone literature,” he said.

Festival director Pierre-Yves Bérenguer described the collaboration with Morocco as “rich and dynamic.” This year’s programming, he said, reflects the depth of Moroccan writing, from novels and poetry to essays and children’s books.

Books lined the walls. But more than books, the air carried a sense of possibility, of stories yet to be told, across languages and shores.

Rabat is also preparing for its own literary celebration. From April 18 to 27, the city will host the 30th edition of the International Book and Publishing Fair (SIEL), bringing together authors, publishers, and intellectuals from around the world.  

This year’s fair will feature 775 exhibitors from 51 countries, each contributing to a collective passion for books, thought, and creative exchange.