In addition to its literary scope, the novel, which promises to be a great success and has already been shortlisted for the 2024 Jean Giono Prize, impresses with the author’s unique poetic approach, which gently and subtly addresses the issue of climate change.
This approach, between a cry of warning and a song of hope, was hailed in unison during the discussions that punctuated the presentation of the work during a pleasant meeting organized by the permanent ambassador-delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco to UNESCO, Samir Addahre, and the ambassador of His Majesty the King in Paris, Samira Sitail, in the presence of a host of personalities from different spheres, diplomatic, cultural and media.
Unlike her first novel “La poule et son cumin” (JC Lattès, 2022), where she evokes in a “raw and harsh” way the dramas of clandestine abortions, Zineb Mekouar explained, during these discussions moderated by the journalist Myriam Bounafaa (France Info), that she had chosen this time to speak of “maternal love” through the innocent and dreamy gaze of a child, “witness to the earth that dries up and the bees that no longer buzz”, in reference to “the nourishing earth that does not nourish”, against a backdrop of climate change.
The novel tells the captivating story of Anir, a ten-year-old boy living in southern Morocco who loves to listen to his grandfather’s stories, especially those about the Rucher du Saint – the oldest collective apiary in the world – perched on a mountainside in the High Atlas. While the boy grows up learning to take care of bees, his mother and grandfather hide a heavy secret from him.
Although the story comes from Zineb Mekouar’s imagination, the beekeeping village to which she refers is very real, it is the one housing the “Rucher d’Inzerki” where the bees no longer buzz as before, with climate change, she specified.
Speaking at the opening of this meeting, marked by the screening of a documentary dedicated to this Apiary, Ms. Sitail praised the talent of the Moroccan novelist who, through her writing, sheds light on this fascinating site, unknown to many, but above all on “the urgency of facing the climatic upheavals which affect us and which weaken our ecosystems”.
“The Inzerki Apiary, at the center of her story, is both fascinating and full of symbols. Few people know about it, yet it is considered the largest traditional Apiary in the world. And probably the oldest. It is located in the Atlas Mountains, it is a true treasure of Amazigh heritage. It represents not only ancestral know-how but also a very precious link between man, nature and time,” the ambassador stressed.
Unfortunately, the diplomat laments, in recent years the apiary has experienced “a significant deterioration and an unprecedented desertion of hives”.
“This apiary risks disappearing under the pressure of climate change. It nevertheless remains an emblem of hope and collective memory,” noted Ms. Sitail, who hopes to see the Inzerki site listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, which “would be a recognition of cultural, historical and ecological value and a crucial lever for its preservation.”
Referring to “a powerful work, imbued with sensitivity”, the Moroccan ambassador to Paris noted that Zineb Mekouar’s novel “invites us to reflect on issues that are both intimate and universal: drought, heritage, but also identity and transmission”, adding that this work “resonates with the challenges of our time and the ills of our time”.
If with her first novel, Zineb Mekouar made a remarkable entrance onto the literary scene, the ambassador said she was convinced that the adventure continues for someone who “definitively establishes her place among the major writers, capable of leaving her mark on the literary scene and resonating with the great voices of our time.”
Zineb Mekouar was born in Casablanca in 1991. She has lived in Paris since 2009. Her first novel, “La poule et son cumin” (JC Lattès, 2022), was among the finalists for the 2022 Goncourt first novel and featured on the list of “summer 2022 favorites” by the Académie Goncourt.
She is currently part of the first selection of the 2024 Jean Giono Prize for her novel “Remember the Bees”.
Sponsored by the Jan Michalski Foundation, the Jean Giono Prize is awarded to the best storyteller and recognizes a work written in French that gives a large place to the imagination.
The presentation of this prestigious prize will take place on November 14 in Paris.
2024-09-23 01:05:25