Mohamed Saïd Raïhani ( ar, محمد سعيد الريحاني) is a Moroccan translator, novelist and short-story writer born on December 23, 1968 in Ksar el Kebir, north of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. He is a member of ''Moroccan Writers’ Union'', holder of a ''PhD degree in Translation'' from ''King Fahd Advanced School of Translation'' in Tangier/Morocco, an ''M.A. degree in Creative Writing'' (English Literature) from ''Lancaster University'' (United Kingdom), a second ''M.A. degree in Translation, Communication & Journalism'' from ''King Fahd Advanced School of Translation'' and a ''B.A. degree in English Literature'' from ''Abdelmalek Essaadi University'' in Tétouan/Morocco.

Bibliography

Childhood and early attractions towards arts and literature

Mohamed Saïd Raïhani was born on Monday December 23, 1968 in Ksar el Kebir (

) where he got his primary and secondary schooling before going to Tetouan north of

to carry on his

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

studies in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. In his early life, he was fond of plastic arts but as he could not access Fine Arts School in Tetouan, 130 kilometers away from his hometown, since he was not yet fifteen years old, he shifted to literature, at the age of sixteen. When he was sixteen years old, he tried writing his autobiography in French. Yet, on joining the university, he began writing short plays in English, being at that time a great fan of the Irish famous playwright

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. He also tried short story writing as he was fascinated by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

’s writings. However, right after his university studies, he joined the sector of National Education as a teacher. on the literary plane, he shifted right away from writing in English into writing in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, the language of his daily life and his deepest dreams. He, however, kept his love for short story that dates back to his childhood. In fact, when he was a little boy, a lady who was a friend of his mother’s used to visit them every afternoon to tell them wonderful stories that were nothing but the "

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

". To this magic story-teller, he did a very special tribute in the first chapter of his "photo-autobiography" entitled "When Photo Talks". This lady has kindled his passion for fiction since his very early childhood, enabling him master the craft of telling stories before even learning the literary writing techniques.

First steps towards fictive writing

As far as writing is concerned, Mohamed Saïd Raïhani admits being very grateful to " Composition", a period he used to like most in the elementary school years. In periods of "Composition", he felt fully free to write as he pleased and, gradually, he found out his growing inclination towards literary writing. However, reading books of great writers set his eyes wide open on worldwide

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

. His early readings were guided by nightly television series he used to watch every night. Thus, ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

was perhaps his first French-speaking book that he may have chosen with his own hands at the age of thirteen. Thus, late at night, he used to read on paper the same episodes of the series he had watched on TV in the early 1980s.Mohamed Larbi Lasri, "Pens & Names from Ksar El Kébir", Tangiers: 1st Edition, Volume 3, 2008, page 239

Early narrative texts

"In Love" and "Open, Sesame!" are Mohamed Saïd Raïhani’s first short stories written by the end of 1991 when he was 23 years old. "In Love" was not published until fifteen years later. However, "Open, Sesame!", was published on May 9, 1994 on one of the greatest literary Annexes in the 1990s Morocco, "Bayan Al Yawm Al-Thaqafi". The central theme in "Open, Sesame!" is repeated several times in Mohamed Saïd Raïhani’s early short stories: Flood. "Open, Sesame!" remains "a short story which invests dream as a narrative technique in a journey from individual dream to the collective one", wrote Moroccan writer Mohamed Aslim in his preface to Mohamed Saïd Raïhani’s first collection of short stories "Waiting For The Morning" published in 2003.

Literary Philosophy

In 2003, Mohamed Saïd Raïhani wrote a short story entitled "The Three Keys" (published in the collection "Season of Migration to Anywhere''", 2006). This short story "The Three Keys", contains his philosophy related to fiction writing. "The Three Keys" defends free expression, urges love of the written work and dreams of reaching the real reader.It is a desire to reconcile the text with its free and wild nature: "When Freedom, says Mohamed Saïd Raïhani in an interview with "Le Matin" a French-speaking daily newspaper, will be the direct background of fiction, Love the storyline and Dream the dominant form of narration, only then short story will have taken a wider step to emancipate itself from the present restrains. Yet, writers should realize that Immunity is not necessarily reserved to diplomates but it is also writers' and artists' as well. When writers will realize that and believe in it, they will meet Freedom and will write free texts where they can dream and love to the last dregs."

Literary Works in Arabic

* ''Waiting for the Morning'' (

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

) in 2003 * ''The Season of Migration to Anywhere'' (

) in 2006 *''Death of the Author'' (

) in 2010 * ''A Dialogue between Two Generations'' (

) in 2011 (Co-authored with Driss seghir) * ''The Enemy of the Sun, the Clown Who turned Out To Be A Monster'' (

Novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

) in 2012 * ''Behind Every Great Man, There Are Dwarfs'' (

) in 2012 * ''No to Violence'' (

) in 2014 * ''Fifty Short-Shorts: Theme of Freedom'' ( Short short Stories) in 2015

Critical Works in Arabic

* ''The Three Keys: An

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

of Moroccan New

Short Story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

'' (Vol. 1: "The Key to Dream"), 2006 * ''The Three Keys: An

of Moroccan New

'' (Vol. 1: "The Key to Love"), 2007 * ''The Three Keys: An

of Moroccan New

'' (Vol. 1: "The Key to Freedom"), 2008

Journalistic Researches & Investigations in Arabic

* ''The History of Manipulating Professional Contests in Morocco'' (Journalistic Investigation) Vol. 1, 2009. * ''The History of Manipulating Professional Contests in Morocco'' (or ''Letters to the Minister of Education in Morocco'') (Journalistic Investigation) Vol. 2, 2011. * ''Authenticity of Arab Media Slogan Through the Making of Press Image'' (Case of Aljazeera Slogan, ''The Opinion & the Other Opinion''), 2015.

Onomastic Researches in Arabic

*''The Singularity Will'' (A Semiotic Study on First-names) in 2001

Works Translated into English

*''Waiting for the Morning'' (Short Stories), Bloomington (Indiana/USA): Xlibris, 2013.

Interviews Collected in Published Books

* Anas Filali, "''Raihanyat''" (Forty Interviews with Mohamed Said Raihani), Amman/Jordan: Sayel Publishing Co, 1st Edition, 2012. * Collective Work, "''With Raihani in His Shrine''" (Thirty Interviews on Culture, Art & Literature with Mohamed Said Raihani), Tetouan/Morocco: Maktabat Salma Al-Thaqafiah, 1st Edition, 2016.

References

External links

Mohamed Saïd Raihani's SiteMohamed Saïd Raihani Interviewed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raihani, Mohamed Said 1968 births Living people Moroccan novelists Moroccan male writers Male novelists Moroccan writers in French People from Ksar el-Kebir