With a wide variety of artists and writers, from New York Times best-selling Tahir Shah and the ever-engaging Alice Morrison, to new-to-you voices like Hazim Azghari and Dina Benbrahim, Our Morocco is an anthology like none other. With some really great Moroccan writers and Moroccan-based writers, this is a collection that is as entertaining as it is informative. Peer beyond the veil with Our Morocco.

Over this horribly tragic pandemic, we have been trying to find ways to positively impact those around us. We are so happy to share with you that one of these projects has finally come to light!!! Finally, we have published our first book: OUR MOROCCO.

Our Morocco is a collection of personal stories from Moroccans and non-Moroccans alike. Throughout this heartfelt, warm, and ever-entertaining collection, you’ll find some familiar names, as well as plenty of new voices to keep you company. From the terraces of Tangier’s Cafe Hafa to the depths of the Marrakesh medina, Moroccans and long-time expats of Morocco share their stories. In these pages, you will travel all over Morocco. No doubt, you will find some familiar names and revisit some familiar places.

Our Morocco Contributors

There are sixteen great Moroccan and Moroccan-based writers and artists for you to discover in these pages. It truly is an extraordinary, humbling accomplishment to bring this to you. Here is a list of contributors to Our Morocco:

• Zakariaa Aitouraies reflects about what being Moroccan, and a lover and student of English, means.
• Hazim Azghari ponders the intersection of Islam and Environmentalism and his pull away from the city.
• Dina Benbrahim takes you on a bouncy typographic tour of Tangier as only she could.
• Suzanna Clarke witnesses how her community has responded to the global pandemic (and shares some wonderful photography).
• Eirlys Davies shares the account of her life in Morocco and all the necessary adjustment — physical, emotional, and mental — that this entailed.
• Richard Hamilton peels back the folds of Moroccan history and his hard-won knowledge.
• Myronn Hardy gives us an insight into a traditional Friday afternoon couscous with a family in the quiet folds of the Middle Atlas.
• Lynn Houmdi lands in Essaouira, where her new life begins with a long wait, a precursor in some ways of what is to come.
• Amina Lahbabi shows us glimpses into the Morocco, and its people, that captures her eye.
• Gerald Loftus, a former Director of the Tangier American Legation, delights in a living museum.
• Alice Morrison takes us out to begin an adventure with her semi-nomadic friends.
• Amanda Mouttaki brings us to that first awkward hammam experience.
• Zora O’Neill finds the Morocco of her parents, and her namesake, as she winds throughout the country.
• Lucas Peters, edits and contributes a translation of part of the legend of a Sufi saint in a little-visited Souss region
• Saeida Rouass enchants with her poetic ode to her Morocco.
• Tahir Shah writes us back into the Jinn-haunted digs of Dar Khalifa in Casablanca

Our Morocco for Our World

As great as this collection is to read, what makes it so very, very special is that all proceeds of this collection go to fund the Morocco Library Project.

The Morocco Library Project is an NGO that builds and supports libraries in remote, rural, underdeveloped areas of Morocco. These libraries are hubs for young primary and secondary students. They facilitate a love for reading, language and learning. What began as one small, purple library in Erfoud (near the Sahara) has blossomed into dozens throughout the distant regions of the country.

Where to Order Your Copy of Our Morocco?

To keep as sustainable as possible while leveraging as much possible funding as possible, we have decided to publish and distribute this collection widely via Kindle Direct Publishing. You’ll be able to easily purchase your copy, whether you prefer electronic or paperback, from your Amazon account. It should be as easy  can clicking one of these handy links below!

• Amazon.com (US): https://amzn.to/31bLafK
• Amazon.ca (Canada): https://amzn.to/3sf2gp7
• Amazon.co.uk (UK): https://amzn.to/319rCsx
• Amazon.fr (France): https://amzn.to/2PnWy5x
• Amazon.es (Spain): https://amzn.to/2PjUnA2

Our Morocco: Special Collector’s Edition Coming Soon!

Bibliophiles and Lovers of Incredible Printed Books BEWARE!!! We are working on crafting a special collector’s edition of Our Morocco that will be 100% Made-in-Morocco. Through this initiative, we hope to support even more local artisans, more great Moroccan writers and even more artists and pack this edition with even more wonderful voices! Reach out to us if you are interested in this special edition. Supplies will be extremely limited.

Watch A Few Contributors from Our Morocco Read on YouTube

You can watch a few of the other writers and artists read their contributions to Our Morocco (and enjoy access to a lot more video content!) on our YouTube Channel

Here is a link to the Journey Beyond Travel YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Journeybeyondtravelmorocco

Thank you so much for your continued support. It’s people like you that make what we do so amazing!

If you’re interested in Morocco and love reading, why not check out some other great reads? This is a good place to start: https://www.journeybeyondtravel.com/blog/top-7-books-moroccan-writers.html

Happy reading and thank you again!