A translation project was initiated by two translators in the United States who wanted to translate Morocco’s Malhoun poems from six notable Moroccan poets into English.
Mbarek Sryfi, a poet-translator at the University of Pennsylvania, and Melanie Magidow, a translator and academic specializing in Arabic translation, have teamed up to translate six Moroccan poets’ works into English.
There are six poets involved in the project: Abdelaziz El Maghraoui, Jilali Mtird, Mohamed Ben Ali Weld Arzin, Kaddour El Alamy, Etthamy El Mdaghri, and El Makki ben Elkorshi.
These 6 poets have written numerous Malhoun pieces between the 15th and 20th centuries, and they are considered to be some of Morocco’s most prominent poets.
Additionally, the pair has obtained funding and support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an agency of the U.S. government that offers financial support to artistic projects around the country.
The pair were granted a translation grant this year through the Literature Fellowship program of the agency.
“In my literary translations, I aim first to entertain and inform the many readers of English who seek access to Arabic literature,” according to Magidow in her personal statement to the NEA.
“This genre of poetry has never before been published in a book-length form in English. We are excited to undertake this exciting project!” she added.
Magidow has published a number of articles related to the subject, including an article in the Encyclopaedia of Islam and articles in academic journals about the artform.
The Arabic word Malhoun, which means melodic, describes a type of poetry or music produced both for written and spoken forms. History traces its origin to Sijilmassa in Morocco.
Other academics have been working on the art form to preserve it and expand its reach in recent years. An encyclopedia of famous Moroccan poets entitled “Malhoun Encyclopedia” has been published by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
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