Salim Jay (born 30 June 1951) is a

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

- Moroccan

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

living in France. He has written about 20 books, numerous

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s and more than thousand

newspaper article An article or piece is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating news, research results, academic analysis, or debate. News articles A news article discusses current or recent news of eit ...

s. His "Dictionnaire des Écrivains marocains", published in 2005 by "éditions EDDIF (Maroc)" and "Paris-Méditérannée (France)" is a

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

Moroccan writers Moroccan may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to the country of Morocco * Moroccan people * Moroccan Arabic, spoken in Morocco * Moroccan Jews See also * Morocco leather Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maro ...

who have expressed themselves in

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

. The book has established itself already as a standard reference tool.

Biography

He was born on 30 June 1951 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from a Moroccan father and Romanian mother. Salim Jay lived in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

from 1957 to 1973. His father was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

who wrote in

classical Arabic Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...

and was a friend of late king Mohammed V to whom Jay devoted the novel "Portrait du Géniteur en Poète Officiel" (Denoel, 1985). When Salim Jay was fourteen he made his first steps in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. He wrote an article for

l'Opinion ''L'Opinion'' is a daily francophone Moroccan newspaper. History and profile ''L'Opinion'' was established in 1965. The daily is the organ of the Istiqlal Party. It is the sister publication of the Arabic-language newspaper ''Al-Alam'' and is ...

, the

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

Istiqlal Party The Istiqlal Party ( ar, حزب الإستقلال, translit=Ḥizb Al-Istiqlāl, lit=Independence Party; french: Parti Istiqlal; zgh, ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and ...

. In 1973 he heeded warnings and went into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

in France. He would not return for 29 years. He kept contact with his native country through the writings of other Moroccans. Salim Jay has a column in "Qantara", the magazine of the prestigious '

Institut du Monde Arabe The ''Institut du Monde Arabe'', French for Arab World Institute, abbreviated ''IMA'', is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural an ...

' in Paris.Fouad Laroui, "Salim Jay est-il un écrivain marocain" ? in:''Yabiladi.com Mag'', 01.03.2006 Besides articles on the literature of Morocco, Jay has written on French writers like

Michel Tournier Michel Tournier (; 19 December 1924 − 18 January 2016) was a French writer. He won awards such as the ''Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française'' in 1967 for '' Friday, or, The Other Island'' and the Prix Goncourt for '' The Erl-King'' i ...

Henri Thomas Henri Thomas (December 7, 1912 – November 3, 1993) was a French writer and poet. Life Henri Thomas was born at Anglemont, Vosges, and grew up in the Alsace/Lorraine region of France. He moved to Paris to attend the prestigious Henri IV high sc ...

and

Jean Freustié Jean Freustié, also known as Jean Pierre Teurlay (October 3, 1914 – June 5, 1983) was a French writer and literary critic. He won the 1969 Prix du roman de la société des gens de lettres, and 1970 Prix Renaudot, for ''Isabelle ou l'arrière-sa ...

. His own favorite is "101 Maliens nous manquent", 1987, ed. Arcantère.

Bibliography

*''Brèves notes cliniques sur le cas Guy des Cars'' Barbare, 1979 *''La Semaine où Madame Simone eut cent ans'' La Différence, 1979 *''Le Fou de lecture et les quarante romans'' Confrontation, 1981 *''Tu seras Nabab, mon fils'', (sous le pseudonyme d’Irène Refrain) Rupture, 1982 *''

Bernard Frank Bernard Frank (11 October 1929, in Neuilly-sur-Seine – 3 November 2006, in Paris) was a French journalist and writer. Early life Bernard Frank was raised in a comfortable family, where his father was a bank manager. After his baccalauréat ...

'' Rupture 1982 *''Romans maghrébins'' L’Afrique littéraire, 1983 *''Romans du monde noir'' L’Afrique Littéraire, 1984 *''Portrait du géniteur en poète officiel'' Denoël, 1985 *''Idriss,

, et les autres'' La Différence, 1986 *''Cent un Maliens nous manquent'' Arcantère, 1987 *''L’Afrique de l’Occident (1887-1987)'' L’Afrique littéraire, 1987 *''L’Oiseau vit de sa plume'' Belfond, 1989 *''Avez-vous lu

?'' Le Félin, 1990 *''Les Écrivains sont dans leur assiette'' « Point Virgule », Seuil, 1991 *''Starlette au haras'', (sous le pseudonyme d’Alexandra Quadripley) Editions de Septembre, 1992 *''Du côté de Saint-Germain-des-Prés'' Jacques Bertoin, 1992 *''Pour

Angelo Rinaldi Angelo Rinaldi (born 17 June 1940) is a French writer and literary critic. Biography Rinaldi is the son of Pierre-François Rinaldi and Antoinette Pietri; after growing up in Corsica he became a journalist. He initially worked as a reporter a ...

'' Belles Lettres, 1994 *''Jean Freustié, romancier de la sincérité'' Le Rocher, 1998 *''Sagesse du milieu du monde'' Paris Méditerranée, 1999 *''Tu ne traverseras pas le détroit'' Mille et une nuits, 2001 *''Dictionnaire des écrivains marocains'' Paris Méditerranée - Eddif, 2005 *''Embourgeoisement immédiat'' ed. La Différence, 2006 (see article

) *

References

External links

Article (in French) by Fouad Laroui "Salim Jay est-il un écrivain marrocain ?

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Salim 1951 births Living people Moroccan novelists Male novelists Moroccan essayists Moroccan male writers Male essayists Moroccan writers in French French people of Romanian descent Writers from Paris Moroccan literary critics Moroccan people of Romanian descent