Mohamed Saïd Raïhani () is a Moroccan novelist, short-story writer and scholar. He was born on December 23, 1968, in

Ksar el Kebir Ksar el-Kebir (), also known as al-Qasr al-Kabir, is a city in northwestern Morocco, about north of Rabat, east of Larache and south of Tangier. It recorded a population of 126,617 in the 2014 Moroccan census. The name means "the big castle ...

, north of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. He is a member of Moroccan Writers’ Union, holder of a PhD degree in Translation Studies 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 educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

studies in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. 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 as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

. 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. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

’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 Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, 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'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

". To this magic story-teller, he did a very special tribute in the first chapter of his "photoautobiography" entitled "My Wish Was to Accomplish the Story". 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 Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

", 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 novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

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

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

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. It can typically be read in a single 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 old ...

) 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 an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

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

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

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

Flash Fiction Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also kn ...

) in 2015 * ''Fifty Short-Shorts: Theme of Dream'' (

) in 2024 * ''Fifty Short-Shorts: Theme of Love'' (

) in 2025 * '' I Would Have Loved to Tell It All (Photoautobiography) in 2024

Literary Criticism 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 related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

of Moroccan New

Short Story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single 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 old ...

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

of Moroccan New

'' (Vol. 2: "The Key to Love"), 2007 * ''The Three Keys: An

of Moroccan New

'' (Vol. 3: "The Key to Freedom"), 2008

Journalistic researches and investigations in Arabic

* ''The History of Manipulating Professional Exams in Morocco'' (Journalistic Investigation) Vol. 1, 2009. * ''The History of Manipulation of Professional Exams 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.

Works Published Originally in English

*''Magically Yours!, First Edition, 2025.''

Interviews collected in published books

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

References

External links

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