RABAT — For three days in early December, Casablanca’s Artorium was transformed from an exhibition hall into a temporary home for stories. The Collective of New Moroccan Publishing (CNEM), a network of independent publishers, staged its first book fair there Dec. 4-6, offering readings, debates and hands-on workshops that showcased the country’s growing literary energy and its hunger for new voices.
The fair, organized by the Kitab Club — the literary initiative run by Travaux Generaux de Construction de Casablanca’s cultural foundation — aimed to create a rare meeting point between debut authors, independent publishers and readers seeking locally rooted narratives.
For newcomers, even finding such a space can feel like a breakthrough. Rabat-born director, actor and first-time author Ahmed El Falah said the event carries particular weight for emerging writers. “It heralds a possible future, a place to meet a publisher and an audience ready to listen,” he explained.
Breaking into the industry
The National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco (BNRM) published its first-ever report on the publishing sector this year, laying out enduring structural problems in both production and distribution. The kingdom’s publishing output reached 3,725 titles in 2023-2024 — a 6.98% increase from the previous year. Yet the path for new writers remains steep.
Falah questioned how many publishers are actually willing or able to take risks on first manuscripts. “There is a scarcity of Moroccan publishing houses truly open to first manuscripts. Many operate with a very narrow editorial line or prioritize established authors for economic reasons,” he said.
Livremoi bookshop at the CNEM bookfair in Casablanca, Morocco. (Courtesy of En Toutes Lettres)
The data confirms this. During that 2023-2024 period, 643 books were self-published — 20% of all works — highlighting what the BNRM described as the sector’s ongoing lack of organization and professional infrastructure. Though roughly 300 publishing houses operate in Morocco, most are small, release only one or two titles a year and lack access to professional distribution networks.
The BNRM report also characterizes the industry as heavily dependent on public funding and as being geographically concentrated in Casablanca and Rabat. Less than 10% of Moroccan publications are available online, as digital publishing remains a largely untapped resource. Thus, the lack of a robust print distribution network in the country is felt deeply by authors who are seeking visibility.
A ‘poorly structured’ system
Kenza Sefrioui — organizer of the debut fair and founder of Moroccan publishing house En Toutes Lettres — echoed the report’s findings, describing Morocco’s publishing ecosystem as “poorly structured.” She cited the mounting pressure on small publishers and bookshops from large distributors, a lack of clear regulation and the distorting effects of piracy and direct state procurement.
Sefrioui also noted that “Morocco lacks a clear public reading policy, with short-term cultural events often prioritized over long-term measures, such as passing legislation or building a strong public library network, leaving many citizens without access to culture.”
For her, nurturing new talent is a core mandate. “It is our vocation as publishers to seek out new voices and to remain attentive to their creativity across different fields,” she stressed.
But for many aspiring writers, visibility remains elusive. Abir Mouhtamid of the Moroccan Writers Association noted that self-published authors face steep financial and logistical hurdles. Under Moroccan rules, writers must first secure authorization from the BNRM, then handle printing, distribution and outreach themselves. “The whole process usually costs more than the writers earn from the book,” she said, making it a prohibitive barrier for most first-time authors.
Falah experienced these realities firsthand while publishing “Journal d’un fou.” Yet he sees value in the struggle. “Each difficulty can become a lesson. My successes often grew out of these obstacles,” he reflected.
Lamia Berrada Berca, Ahmed El Falah, Rita Baddou, and Salima El Mandjera at the panel discussion “Writing in All Its Forms” at the CNEM bookfair in Casablanca, Morocco. (Courtesy of En Toutes Lettres)
A new generation of writers in an evolving Morocco
Despite the structural barriers, a vibrant new cohort of writers is emerging — one that is shaped by social change and keenly attuned to Morocco’s shifting realities. It is this generation that En Toutes Lettres seeks to uplift. “Young authors pay close attention to the complexity of social issues and fully embrace the method of intersectionality to reflect these realities,” Sefrioui said, citing themes such as the environment, women’s rights and social injustice.
Still, both Sefrioui and Falah caution that isolated initiatives, no matter how promising, cannot compensate for missing public policy. Falah warned that “without a more ambitious public policy, the impact could remain marginal.”
Sefrioui was even more blunt: “We cannot build a healthy ecosystem in Morocco through event-based policies alone. We need a complete overhaul of our education system, strengthened research and genuine respect for freedom of expression — without which emerging literary voices will remain marginal.”
For now, the Casablanca fair offered a glimpse of what Morocco’s literary scene could become: a meeting point where emerging talents feel seen and where the country’s publishing future — still uneven, still fragile — briefly comes into focus.
