Spain 🇪🇸
Najat El Hachmi is a Moroccan-Spanish feminist author. She was born in Nador (Morocco) in 1979. At the age of 8, Najat El Hachmi immigrated with her family to Catalonia, Spain. She studied Arab literature at the University of Barcelona. She began writing when she was twelve years old and has continued ever since, first as entertainment, and later as a means to express concerns or to reflect and re-create her own reality, in the (at least) two cultures to which she belongs.
Among her published works, one should mention her novels “L’últim patriarca” (2008), a debut that won one of the most prestigious awards in Catalonia, the Ramon Llull Prize and the Prix Ulysse, “La filla estrangera” (2015 – winner of the Sant Joan Novel Award and the Barcelona City Award). All of them have been widely translated.
After the publication on the celebrated Feminist essay, “Sempre han parlat per nosaltres” (2019), her latest published work is the novel “Dilluns ens estimaran” (2021), for which she received the most prestigious Spanish award, the "Nadal" prize. Her multi-award-winning work deals with the themes of identity, migration and the meaning of being a woman in Muslim culture. She also works as a journalist and columnist for important Spanish newspapers such as El Paìs and El Periódico.
Dilluns ens estimaran (In Monday They Will Love Us)
“BOOKSTAR” AWARD 2023
Тranslation: Lara Prokopieva
The novel talks about the fate of a girl of Moorish origin, the daughter of immigrants from Morocco, who goes through troublesome puberty years in a strictly controlled and predominantly Muslim neighborhood in the suburbs near Barcelona during the 1990s.
The constant pressure to conform to rigid religious rules and male domination, typical of the small Moroccan village from which her family comes from, clashes with the modern Spanish society in which Naima lives. The clash of cultures versus the needs and desires of the young girl intensifies after her encounter and strong friendship with another Moorish girl, who has the courage to live life on her own terms. She encourages Naima herself to embark on a quest for her own individual freedom.
"In Monday They Will Love Us" received the "Nadal" award in 2021, one of the most prestigious awards for a book written in the Spanish language.