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Ministry of Culture Withdraws Moroccan Book Prize from Nine Writers

Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication withdraws the 2021 Morocco Book Prize from nine winners.
Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication withdraws the 2021 Morocco Book Prize from nine winners.
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Ministry of Culture Withdraws Moroccan Book Prize from Nine Writers

Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication withdraws the 2021 Morocco Book Prize from nine winners.
Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication withdraws the 2021 Morocco Book Prize from nine winners.

Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication has decided to withdraw the 2021 Morocco Book Prize from a number of winners.

This came after the nine winners, Yahya El Yahyaoui, Idriss Makboul, Yahya Ben El Walid, Ahmed Bouhassan, Taieb Amkroud, Mohammed El-Jarti, Mohamed Ali Rabaoui, Hassan Oubrahim, and Boubkar Bouhadi, were unwilling to split the prize money between them.

The ministry said in a statement that its decision comes after the nine writers sent a correspondent requesting “the full amount of the prize to be paid according to the article 13 of the decree regulating the competition.”

The amount was equally distributed on the winners at the end of the competition. According to the decree, “the winner shall be given a certificate, a souvenir, and a sum of 120,000 dirham ($12,000).”

The statement shed lights on the value “and moral aspects of the award established around 50 years ago. It has gained the appreciation and respect of prestigious Moroccan writers and intellects in different fields. It’s challenging mission of studying and analyzing the qualified works has always been assigned to the best Moroccan intellects.

Commenting on the reasons behind the decision, the ministry “regretted the prioritization of the financial part of the award,” noting that the equal distribution of money prizes among winners is a global standard.

“We have always been keen to increase the financial prize and enhance other incentives,” the ministry explained, noting that “we won’t tolerate the disrespect of the most prestigious book award in Morocco.”

This award, given as a ‘national reward’ to those who contribute to enriching intellect, creativity, research, and translation in Morocco, has built a remarkable journey during which it has become “an annual celebration of Moroccan intellectual production,” and “merited its respectful position among the cultural circles in the country, and lured researchers, writers, and critics, in addition to major players in the Moroccan publishing industry.”

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Rain, Snow Offer Hope in Japan’s Worst Wildfire in 50 Years 

Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Rain, Snow Offer Hope in Japan’s Worst Wildfire in 50 Years 

Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)

Japan battled its worst wildfire in half a century on Wednesday in a region hit by record-low rainfall, as wet weather gave hope for some relief.

The blaze around the northern city of Ofunato in the Iwate region has raged for more than a week, killing one person and forcing nearly 4,000 residents to evacuate their homes.

It has engulfed about 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres) -- around half the size of Manhattan -- making it the largest wildfire since at least 1975, when 2,700 hectares burnt in Hokkaido.

"The fire was like nothing I've seen before. It was towering and spreading fast," said Mitsuo Otsubo, 85, who fled his home to stay with a relative.

"It didn't rain or snow at all this year... Thank goodness it rained today though. I can only hope it will help contain the situation," the seaweed and scallop farmer told AFP.

An 86-year-old woman, who declined to be identified, said she had seen "a huge amount of smoke rising up and then the fire".

"The wind was really strong and I was so stunned that my pulse became erratic," she said.

Columns of white smoke billowed from a mountain through the rain and snow on Wednesday, AFP reporters saw. More wet weather was forecast through Thursday.

"Firefighters have been working on the ground through the night," a city official told AFP on Wednesday.

"We are hoping that snow, which started to fall this morning, will help," he said.

- Hot soak -

At least 84 buildings are believed to have been damaged, although details are still being assessed, according to the fire agency.

Almost 4,000 people had complied with orders to evacuate by late Tuesday.

The owner of an "onsen" hot spring inn voluntarily opened his facility for free to evacuees.

"Not being able to bathe yourself on top of dealing with the chaos of life in a shelter definitely wears you down," 60-year-old Toyoshige Shida, of Ofunato Onsen, told AFP.

He said he built the inn after seeing how people suffered in the wake of a huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that killed at least 340 people in Ofunato alone.

- Dry weather -

Japan endured its hottest summer on record last year as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.

The number of wildfires in the country has declined since its 1970s peak.

However, there were about 1,300 in 2023, concentrated in the period from February to April when the air dries out and winds pick up.

Ofunato received just 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inches) of rainfall in February -- breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4 millimeters in 1967 and well below the average of 41 millimeters.

Greg Mullins, formerly fire and rescue commissioner for the Australian state of New South Wales, told AFP that the Japan fire and the recent Los Angeles wildfires were "highly unusual" because they were in winter.

"In both cases the fires were preceded by hot summers, which increased evaporation and drying of vegetation, followed by large rainfall deficits that parched the landscape," he said.

"This is a common by-product of climate change that is being seen worldwide," said Mullins, a founder of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group.

"As the planet warms further, we can expect to see fires in places where they have never before been a problem."

- 'High hopes' -

Around 2,000 firefighters, most deployed from other parts of Japan, including Tokyo, have been working from the air and on the ground.

"The fact that teams of firefighters are being reinforced every day, and that the fire has been going on for a week, shows the extent of the dry weather and the difficulties we are facing," Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami told reporters.

The topography of the mountainous coastal area, with steep slopes and narrow and winding roads, was hampering the fire-fighting operation.

Japanese baseball prodigy Roki Sasaki, who recently joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, has offered a 10-million-yen ($67,000) donation and 500 sets of bedding.

Sasaki attended high school in Ofunato after losing his father and grandparents in the 2011 tsunami.