The Book of Roses and Ashes – Letters between Muhammad Shukri and Muhammad Barrada – the writer Muhammad Shukri

The first time I met Mohamed Choukri, when I met him during the summer vacation of 1972 on Avenue Pasteur in Tangier… I had read him texts in the magazine “Literature” and heard news full of exaggerations about his private life. We dated in the evening, and it struck me during our conversation, which lasted late that night, that Shoukry was far from the picture that fans paint of him: he was sober in his dialogue, rational in his arguments, bold in his arguments and criticism of what he reads. He was not drawn to the “myth” of his past, but was open to his present, living as close as possible to the complex reality accelerating in its transformations.