The verdict was handed down on 27 December 2020. Abdelhak Najib, writer, journalist, presenter of the highly successful programme Al Oula: “Sada Al Ibdae”, essayist, lecturer and art and film critic, has been distinguished by the prestigious Arab Cultural Union as this year’s cultural personality for his contribution to culture and the arts in the world.

This distinction pays tribute to the work of a man of letters and a figure of Moroccan and Arab culture who has distinguished himself during this year not only as a writer by publishing several important works such as “Morocco, what are we afraid of”, a collective book bringing together 54 authors from different horizons that poses the question of what kind of Morocco we want for the future. Abdelhak Najib also co-authored with the excellent Dr. Imane Kendili, psychiatrist and addictologist, a profound reflection on the Covid 19 pandemic and the world that awaits us tomorrow, entitled: “Coronavirus, the end of a world”.

Also published by Orion Editions, he has published: “Vitriol”, “Finis Gloriae Mundi”, “Le pays où les pierres parlent”, “Le printemps des feuilles qui tombent”, “Le temps des femmes libres”, “Schizophrénies marocaines” and “La rédemption par le péché”, a philosophical essay that he co-authored with the writer and philosopher, Mounir Serhani.

Indeed, it is to pay tribute to this in-depth work during a very difficult period, that of the pandemic, that the Arab Union for Culture has distinguished the Moroccan thinker, who has also published during this year 2020 many fine authors such as Abdallah El Amrani and his novel “The Man Who Killed the Moon”, Noureddine Bousfiha and his “L’autre côté de soi”, Najib Bensbia and his novel “Lettre à mon homme”, Professor Wiam El Khattabi and his excellent work, “Ingratitude Ô travail”, “la révolte des secrets” by the incomparable Rachida Belkacem. Without forgetting “Leila in the land of benzo” by Linda Chiouar, “Love” by Mouad Moutawakil, “La danse sur les clous” by Driss Korchi or “La naturopathie du cancer” by Doctor Fati Hamzy.

These are more than twenty books published in times of crisis, hundreds of copies of which have been offered free of charge to all readers wishing to obtain them as a citizen gesture to support people during difficult periods of confinement. The prize also honours Abdelhak Najib, the speaker who, during the period of confinement, gave a number of conferences via the Orion TV web channel, with great public success, with themes that are both topical and citizen-oriented, raising profound questions about living together, solidarity, social cohesion and the cultivation of the most fundamental human values.