Creative Writing with Hajar Azell

Creative writing can become a powerful space for reflection, imagination, and healing, especially for girls whose voices are rarely heard. The workshop led by our amazing facilitator Hajar Azell in Creative Writing at the Abdessalam Bennani Child Protection Center in Casablanca, was an opportunity for participants to explore their experiences through storytelling.

For Hajar, writing often begins with an inner “burning”, in other words, the emotions and memories we carry within us. The workshops created a safe and playful environment where the girls could transform those feelings into stories. Through imaginative exercises, word-games, improvisation, and reflective writing, participants were encouraged to revisit difficult moments in their lives and reshape them through creativity.

During the workshop, some girls chose to write about their realities, while others allowed their imagination to wander far beyond it. One participant, Sanae, described escaping to a peaceful park, a place that seemed to understand her when words failed. Moments like these reveal how storytelling can open new emotional landscapes.

Beyond the act of writing itself, Hajar highlighted the importance of listening to voices that are often overlooked. By connecting creators with individuals who carry meaningful stories, initiatives like these remind us that imagination can bridge the present and the future, helping young women envision the places they hope to reach.

About Hajar

Moroccan writer and cultural entrepreneur Hajar Azell is part of a new generation of authors exploring identity, memory, and social realities through literature. Born in Rabat in 1992, she later moved to Paris to pursue studies in management and philosophy, while developing her passion for writing and cultural work. Alongside her literary career, she has been involved in promoting emerging artistic voices from North Africa and the Middle East through cultural initiatives and independent media platforms.

Azell is the author of the novels L’Envers de l’été (2021) and Le sens de la fuite (2025), both published by Gallimard. Her work often weaves together intimate stories with broader historical and political contexts, reflecting on questions of belonging, memory, and the complex relationships between personal experience and collective history.

Beyond her novels, Azell regularly engages in cultural and educational projects that explore the power of storytelling. Her involvement in creative writing workshops reflects a belief that literature can become a tool for expression, imagination, and empowerment, especially for young people and marginalised communities whose voices are often overlooked.

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