Solidarity with Iraq at the heart of the celebration of the poetry world day in Casablanca

January 18, 2006 During this evening the audience was deeply moved when the poetess Hafsa bikri, of Moroccan father and Iraqi mother, read poems both in English and French against the war, and, told the audience that her aunt, professor at the university of Basorah, used her books as fuel, during the the last Gulf war, to warm her cold mother.

A number of important speeches were read during that evening, such as the speech of the general director of the UNESCO in which he stresses the fundamental role of poetry in "the dialogue between cultures", as well as the speech of the house of poetry in Morocco, written by poet Mohamed mimouni, in which the latter states that the role of the poet is creation which is based on his freedom, convictions, doubts and hopes with the aim of raising the most fundamental questions.

During the same evening the prize for the first volume of poetry was handed over to the Moroccan poet Kamal akhlaki for his book "Akthar min Jabal" (More than a mountain) which signals a highly promising poetic career.