Najat El Hachmi

Najat El Hachmi
Born	June 2, 1979 (1979-06-02) (age 32) Nador, Morroco
Language	Catalan
Nationality	Moroccan - Catalan

Najat El Hachmi (born in Morocco on July 2, 1979) is a Moroccan-Catalan writer.^[1]

Life

At the age of 8 she immigrated with her family to Catalonia, Spain. El Hachmi studied Arab literature at the University of Barcelona and currently resides in Granollers. She began writing when she was twelve years old and has continued ever since, first as entertainment, and later as a means to express concerns or to reflect and re-create her own reality, in the (at least) two cultures to which she belongs.

Career

Her first book, Jo també sóc catalana (I am also Catalan, 2004), was strictly autobiographical, dealing with the issue of identity, and the growth of her sense of belonging to her new country. In 2005, she participated in an event sponsored by the European Institute of the Mediterranean, along with other Catalan writers of foreign descent, including Matthew Tree, Salah Jamal, Laila Karrouch and Mohamed Chaib. During the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2007, where Catalan culture was the featured guest of honour, she traveled to variousGerman cities to participate in conferences in which she offered her perspective on contemporary Catalan literature. El Hachmi has made frequent appearances in the media, including Catalunya Radio, and the newspaper Vanguardia.

In 2008, she won one of the most prestigious award in Catalan letters, the Ramon Llull prize, for her novel L'últim patriarca (The Last Patriarch). The novel tells the story of a Moroccan who immigrates to Catalonia, a sometimes despotic patriarch who enters into conflict with his daughter, who breaks with the traditional values of the old country to adapt to the new, modern culture in which she finds herself.

Works

• 2004 "Jo també sóc catalana" (I am also Catalan)
• 2008 "L'últim patriarca" (The Last Patriarch)
• 2010 El Hachmi, Najat (2010). The last patriarch. London: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 9781846687174. 

Awards

• 2008 Ramon Llull prize for the Last Patriarch

References

1. ^ Bajak, Frank (22 January 2010). "Literature lovers head to Cartagena for Hay Festival". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-01-25-cartagena-hay-festival_N.htm. Retrieved 24 January 2011. 

External links

• Najat El Hachmi books
• Library Thing

Persondata
Name	Hachmi, Najat El
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 2, 1979
Place of birth	Nador, Morroco
Date of death
Place of death