An exploration of Abdellatif Laâbi's childhood city of Fez, The Bottom of the Jar is a warm and lyrical elegy to his family, full of intimate portraits of the lives of various colorful characters who once prowled the alleyways of Morocco's storied medieval capital.

Abdellatif Laâbi, a poet, novelist, and playwright, was born in 1942 in Fez, Morocco, where he served an eight-year prison sentence under Hassan II. He has lived in Paris ever since. He was awarded the Prix Goncourt for his complete works (La Différence) and the French Academy's Grand Prix de la Francophonie.

Compelling poems from one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed of contemporary North African writers. Imprisoned for many years by the Moroccan authorities, Laâbi’s poetry is haunted by memories of torture and prisons and bears witness to his preoccupations with—and resistance to—the growing international sickness of state-supported inhumanity.

Abdellatif Laâbi was born in 1942 in Fez. In 1966, he founded the avant-garde literary and artistic journal Souffles, which helped spark a literary and artistic renaissance through North Africa. Imprisoned for seven years in the ’70s for his political beliefs and his writings, he has lived in Paris since 1985. His latest book, a novel, will be published this year by Gallimard.