Mois Benarroch

"Mois Benarroch is the most important Mediterranean Sephardi writer in Israel."Prof. Habiba Pdaya, Haaretz. 2020. Gates to tangierWhen the father of the Benzimra family dies, he leaves a will informing his family of an illegitimate son he fathered with a Muslim woman in Morocco. To receive the inheritance, the family is instructed do everything possible to find that son. They embark on a journey to Tetouan, Morocco, from places as far-flung as Jerusalem,...

EL MEJOR ESCRITOR SEFARDÍ DE ISRAELhaaretz. Prof. Habiba Pdaya Entre el Rayo y el TruenoEntre el rayo y el truenopara cuando veo tu luzya hay demasiado ruido. AquíEn estas callesel ángel que caminó antes que yome ayudó a caminarevitando que cayerame salvócuando tuve un accidente de cocheen la cabezacerca de la sinagogasobre la cabezadel añoaquíen estas callestan vacías de mílloré por primera vezsonreí por primera vezy desde aquí viajé...

It has happened to all of us, we're talking with our brother of a childhood memory and suddenly he says, but you didn't do that, I did. And that seems normal. But, what do we remember when we remember? Scientific studies show that in less than twenty-four hours we have already changed the memory of what has happened to us. Perhaps our memories are not always completely ours, only partially ours, partly they are what others who were in the same place...

Benarroch nació en 1959 en Tetuan/Marruecos, entre Tangier y Gibraltar. Creció dentro de una mezcla de culturas e idiomas, siendo el español su lengua materna, asistiendo a una escuela francesa, escuchando el árabe en las calles y orando en hebreo. En 1972 emigró a Israel y vive desde entonces en Jerusalén. Ha publicado 40 libros de poesía y prosa en hebreo y uno en Español. Setenta traducciones de sus libros han sido publicados en portugués,...

Une rencontre dans un terminal de bus avec une jeune femme identique à l'épouse d'un expulsé mais vint-cinq ans plus jeune. Une relation d'adultère fusionnelle. Un bus mené par des terroristes qui dissocient les passagers avant des passagers arrière par une frontière énigmatique. Des histoires entremêlées qui réunissent le passé et l'avenir. En parallèle, l'expulsion des Séfarades hors d'Espagne, au XVème siècle, et leur arrivée...

Hailed as one of the leading Israeli poets, Benarroch's poetry has been published in a dozen languages, including Urdu and Chinese. Julia Uceda considers that Benarroch holds the memory of the world in his poetry, while Jose Luis Garcia Martin thinks that his poems are more than poetry, they are a document. A witness of his time, Benarroch started writing poetry when he was 15, in English, and has always written in his mother tongue Spanish. When...

"The world portrayed in Brown Scarf Blues by Mois Benarroch is one in which time is an elusive thing. Also, reality. Slipping from the mundane details of travel to the world of fantasy and memory and back again, the book takes us on a trip through loss, regret, and the way in which a misplaced item, even one that wasn't really yours to begin with, can drive one slightly mad. Written by a Moroccan poet and novelist who has lived a truly international...

"My steps still walk through Seville Up and down Levies street Searching for my wife, burned In front of the church As I was returning from Granada. My steps still tread over the streets Day and night, they never part From the pavements in which only my steps exist. My steps still brand Seville, Its limits and frontiers Its sky and river Its tongue and words. And, when I fall into a torrent of laughter It is because I am mad Crazed by the past,...

Keys to Tetouan is the novel of the Benzimra family and its infinite branches expanded all over the world. They are born in the city of Tetouan, Morocco and emigrate to Madrid, New York, Paris, the Amazons, Jerusalem, Greece, and wherever the wind takes them. But they keep longing for the city and keep returning in search of a bride or of an answer to their never ending encompassing of the world. Since 1492, when Spain chases the Jews, this small...