promoting the works of Paul and Jane Bowles in the written, musical and theatre forms and working with caring attitude towards helping people in need in Morocco The definitive unofficial fan site for people who like Paul and Jane Bowles Visited by people who like Paul and Jane Bowles from more than 119 countries This site has been online since May 1st 2000 Copyright Notice All content on this page is the work of The International Paul Bowles Society and has previously been published in our printed publications ©The International Paul Bowles Society, 2000 The Paul Bowles Memorial Evening Palais du Marshan Tangier, Morocco, February 14th 2000 We went out to Morocco for January and February 2000. Wonderful Voyage au Maroc! After 6 weeks in Morocco, we arrived in Tangier on February 14th (Valentines Day), and as we would very often do we made our way down to the bookstore on Boulevard Pasteur and found that it was the Paul Bowles Memorial that very same evening, at the Palais du Marshan. What a wonderful evening, although a very reflective one, and yet a wonderful opportunity for all of the friends and admirers of Paul Bowles to be able to come together to remember him - most of whom were in the audience. Some of the friends of Paul Bowles spoke and shared some of their personal moments. There were public addresses in Arabic, by Abdelaziz Jadir, in French, by Claude Natalie Thomas (translator of Bowles's French editions and one of Paul's longtime best friends,) in Spanish, by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, and in English, by Virginia Spencer-Carr. We also heard a selection of the classical and world musical compositions that Paul had composed and also some poetry readings, and excerpts of letters that various friends and people had written to him. All of these were read with great tenderness and love for Paul Bowles. The Princess of Morocco, Her Royal Highness the Lalla Fatima AlZahrah, the Mayor of Tangier, the US ambassador to Morocco and the Ambassador to the Western Sahara were all in attendance, as was probably most of the expatriate community of Tangier. We were some of the first people to arrive, yet within fifteen minutes or so the hall was full of people, with very little seating untaken. The keynote address in Arabic was given by Abdelaziz Jadir, a well respected friend of Paul's. You could have heard a pin drop when he began speaking. A revered hush fell over the whole auditorium. The whole of the evening was filmed by Moroccan TV, and will be televised internationally at a future undetermined date. I'm sure that everyone present had a wonderful and memorable evening. I for one will certainly never forget it and am glad to have been there. The organisers, headed by John Hopkins, who arranged the evening, did a marvellous job, and rightly deserve the thanks of everybody who attended the Memorial Evening. In English: 'Because we don't know when we will die We get to think of life as an inexhaustible well Yet everything happens only a certain number of times And a very small number really How many more times will you remember A certain afternoon of your childhood? Some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being That you can't even conceive of your life without it Perhaps four or five times more - Perhaps not even that How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty - And yet it all seems limitless' Paul Bowles reading from 'The Sheltering Sky' 'The Sheltering Sky' chapter 24, para 2 In Español: 'Porque no sabemos cuándo moriremos, pensamos que la vida es una fuente inagotable. Sin embargo, las cosas ocurren solo un número determinado de veces y de hecho, un pequeño número de veces. ¿Cuántas veces más recordarás una cierta tarde de tu infancia, alguna tarde que es tan profunda parte de ti que tú ni siquiera puedes concebir la vida sin esa tarde? Quizás cuatro o cinco veces más, quizás ni siquiera eso. ¿Cuántas veces más verás la luna llena alzarse? Quizás veinte. Y sin embargo, todo parece ilimitado.' In Nederlands: 'Omdat we niet weten wanneer we zullen sterven gaan we het leven zien als een onuitputtelijke bron maar alle dingen overkomen ons maar een aantal keren echt, heel weinig keren hoe vaak herinner je je nog die middag, toen je nog kind was? die middag die zo'n deel van je persoon is geworden, dat je je leven zonder die middag niet kunt voorstellen miscchien zo'n 4, 5 keer. misschien niet eens. hoe vaak zul je de volle maan nog zien opkomen? twintig keer misschien? en toch lijkt aan niets een einde te komen.' Article news written by Josie Farmer, Tangier, Morocco, February 14th, 2000 This article is ©The International Paul Bowles Society, 2000 Home Promoting the life and work of Paul and Jane Bowles ©The International Paul Bowles Society, 2007