Profile: Ali Marzouki

About This Author

Ali Marzouki is a pen name. Having been declared a 'threat to national security' in Morocco (reasons unspecified), I now live in England with my wife and two children, having left Morocco a few years ago. I have been alive for half a century now. Fighting Shadows is my first novel. Although I have always enjoyed writing, I did not feel I had a novel in me until I saw a video clip that someone had posted of the first day in Morocco's Arab Spring movement. The victim was filmed bleeding on the ground after his attackers had moved away. Violent attacks on people going home from the protests seem to have been an organised tactic, probably to avoid head-on confrontation at the marches. I wondered what might happen if the victim reported this to the police as an assault. The story flows from there. I am indebted to the Moroccan secret police for inadvertantly supplying me with many of the ideas for the story. Their imagination and resourcefulness in finding ways to ensure that the population of the country remain under tight control far surpasses what I could think of on my own. I have made use of personal experience, news, court documents and human rights reports (and imagination - it is a work of fiction, after all). While the Arab Spring has unfortunately turned sour in many places, the hopes of that brief period must be kept alive. Fighting Shadows attempts to explore some of the many complex issues in the long walk towards the rule of law and true human rights, as well as paying tribute to the sacrifices that individuals have to pay to reach the goal. If you want more information, check out this website. And enjoy the book if you buy it! http://marzouki.myfreesites.net/