Hassan Najmi
[Morocco] 1959–
Najmi’s early poetry, especially his first book Lavender’s Pricedom, represented a clear involvement with the traditions of the early Moroccan pioneers such as Ahmed Mejjati, Mohammed Serghini, Abdelkarim Tabbal, and others. However, his later poetry, embodied in his book A Little Life, effected in both subject matter and language a departure from these traditions and assumed a more contemporary posture.
His poetry is characterized in general by his interest in everyday life. His verse may deal with such ordinary things as domestic items, flower pots, trains, lonely women, old age; etc . His writing reflects a certain love for scrutinizing material things from an interior point of view, as well as people under all conditions of life (let us not forget that he has been for a long time a polilical and cultural activist ). Although the tone of his poetry is sometimes casual, his fondness for close observation imparts insight and substance to all his poetry.
Like some modern Moroccan poets, he searched for a Moroccan poetic identity, and in this search, he developed his own singular personal style. We can say that his poetry remained clear and committed at a time when much of modern Moroccan poetry seemed to tend towards the obscure and alien. This is why his style maintained simplicity and lucidity while many of his contemporaries progressed to intellectualism and deliberate ambiguity. It is true that sometimes his poetry may seem difficult to understand, yet, his readers know that he is not a poet who loves obscurity for its own sake.
Poems
the four seasons
the blueness of evening
n.a
the war
the window
the tavern
a small woman
couplets
the train yard
the exiled
Publications (selection)
Lavenders’ Princedom (poems 1982)
Fallen inadvertently (poems 1990)
Brown Winds (poems 1993)
A Little Life (poems 1995)