Mohammed Mrabet - With Much Fire in the Heart, The Letters of Mohammed Mrabet to Irving Stettner translated by Paul Bowles

WITH MUCH FIRE

IN THE HEART

THE LETTERS OF

MOHAMMED MRABET

TO

IRVING STETTNER

TRANSLATED BY

PAUL BOWLES

First edition

after the printing of limited

editions totaling one hundred copies.

______________________________

WITH MUCH FIRE

IN THE HEART

THE LETTERS OF

MOHAMMED MRABET

TO

IRVING STETTNER

TRANSLATED BY

PAUL BOWLES

First Edition

Printed on acid-free paper

Published by Lightning Source

An INGRAM Company

La Vergne, Tennessee, USA

Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, UK

Copyright 2011 Ronald J. Papandrea

All rights reserved

LCCN: 2009903859

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9746527-5-7

Paperback Retail Price: $19.99 U SD, 14.99 GBP, 17.99 EUR

Hardcover Retail Price: $29.99 USD, 19.99 GBP, 24.99 EUR

Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-9746527-6-4

Available from all major English language book distributors

with 55% wholesale discount and returns accepted.

This book is dedicated to Irving Stettner (1922-2004):

the gold light of day

is only there to make way

for the silver night

la lumire dor du jour

est seulement l pour ouvrir la voie

pour la nuit argente

in the walled city

wandering, I found a place

where I lost my self

dans la ville mure

errant, jai trouv un endroit

o jai perdu mon tre

there is a dance room

in a Tangier hotel; now

the drum is beating

il y a une salle de danse

dans un htel de Tanger; maintenant

le tambour bat

I was delighted to receive your wonderful letter today. I am replying immediately. The fact that you can not read has perhaps made you a better writer than most who do read.

Henry Miller to Mohammed Mrabet

June 7, 1979

Ive been corresponding with Irving Stettner for several years. Everyone tells me he is a delightful man. Mrabet does write him letters. I dont ghostwrite them; I merely translate them as he dictates.

Paul Bowles

April 23, 1983

Introductory Note

On June 4, 1988, Irving Stettner and I were in Lyon, France, for the opening of his one-man watercolor show. We soon left for Morocco to meet Mohammed Mrabet and Paul Bowles. Irving and I discussed the possibility of publishing Mrabets letters. Mrabet had tape recorded the letters in Moghrebi (Moroccan spoken Arabic) and Paul Bowles had translated them into English. Irving had previously published them in his magazine, Stroker ; but I thought they deserved a wider audience. While in Tangier, I obtained approval from Mrabet and Bowles to publish the letters. In 1989, Irving wrote a forward and sent it to me. Other Stroker Press projects intervened to delay the planned book. Irving Stettner died the early morning of January 16, 2004. This book is our last project together. The title was chosen by Irving from a suggestion of his friend, Karl Orend, the owner of Alyscamps Press. It is taken from Mrabets letter of June 17, 1980, to Tommy Trantino, published in Stroker 17 . Mrabet ended this letter:

Adios, hasta Dios quiere. (Good-bye, until God wants it)

with much luck and power, and much fire

in the heart.

Ron Papandrea

November 7, 2004

i

Irving Stettner, Ron Papandrea, Mohammed Mrabet and Paul Bowles,

in Paul Bowles apartment, Tangier, Morocco, June, 1988.

(Photograph credit: Carina Blomback/Merwi Andelin)

( Stroker 40 , inside cover)

ii

Ink Drawing by Mohammed Mrabet, Cover of Stroker 13 .

iii

Ink Drawing by Mohammed Mrabet, Cover of Stroker 23 .

iv

Ink Drawing by Mohammed Mrabet, Stroker 16 , page 33.

v

Ink Drawing by Mohammed Mrabet, Stroker 16 , page 28.

vi

Mohammed Mrabet

(Background: Ketama, the cannabis center of North Africa)

( Stroker 14 , page 13)

vii

Mohammed Mrabet

( Stroker 16 , page 37)

viii

Irving Stettner, Mohammed Mrabet and Paul Bowles,

in Paul Bowles apartment, Tangier, Morocco, June, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

ix

Mohammed Mrabet, in Paul Bowles apartment,

Tangier, Morocco, June, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

x

Mrabets farm house,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xi

Mrabet with son, at Mrabets farm,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xii

Mohammed Mrabet and friends, at Mrabets farm,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xiii

Inside Mrabets farm house,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xiv

Inside Mrabets farm house,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xv

Inside Mrabets farm house,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xvi

Leaving Mrabets farm,

near Tangier, Morocco, July, 1988.

(Photograph by Ron Papandrea)

xvii