Mohammed Bennis - The Poet in The City

The Poet in The City

Mohammed Bennis, who crossed the threshold of sixty years, testifies to the role of the poet in the city. Conscious of this role, he adheres, in 1970, to The Writers Union of Morocco, becoming, in 1973, member of its executive board. Bennis was, however, quick to denounce when he observed the dependence of the cultural in politics, he left the association subsequently. In 1974, he foundedm with Mostafa Mesnaoui, the review Attakafa El Jadida (The new Culture) which played an active role in the cultural life in Morocco. The review was later banned and closed down soon after its thirteenth issue by the Ministry of the interior in January 1984, during the riots of Casablanca,. The ban on the review brought him to take up the challenge and to create, in 1985, with writers and academic friends, Mohammed Diouri, ], in favor of a World Poetry Day. Thanks to this initiative, on November 15, 1999, UNESCO decided to proclaim March 21, World Poetry Day. Ten years later, when politicians seized the “House of Poetry in Morocco”, he published, in January 2010, an open letter titled “Fear of the Meaning”, where he denounced the irresponsible action against the freedom of poets and poetry. He is also one of the signatories of the Democratic Manifesto, published by Moroccan intellectuals on the occasion of the revision of the Moroccan constitution, in answer to the demand of the "Movement of February 20th ".