Generación de la Amistad Saharaui: Celebrating 20 Years of Saharawi Spanish Literature
“A group of Sahrawi poets who aim to convey the suffering of their people, united by stories of shepherds who were lost chasing their dreams behind a cloud”
In the photo, taken on the sweltering July 5, 2005, at the Cervantes monument in Plaza de España, are the poets and the group of friends who accompanied them on that historic day.
On January 22, 2026 the collective of Saharawi poets, journalists and scholars known as Generacion de Amistad Saharaui will come together in Madrid, for two days, to commemorate and celebrate their literary journey and published works over the past two decades.
Inspired by the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, the literary collective was founded in 2005 by the Saharawi anthropologist, journalist, and poet Bahia Awah, alongside a group of Saharawi poets and writers. Primarily based in Spain or educated in Spanish, this group aimed to acknowledge the role of the Iberian language in expressing their history, experiences, political resistance and aspirations.
"The Generation de la Amistad understood from the first moment that writing was to preserve, and that to preserve was to resist.”
“The choice of Spanish was not coincidental: it was a way of dialogue with the world, of openness and communication, but also of cultural re appropriation.”
Ironically, despite Spain's colonial history in Western Sahara, the Saharawi collective considered literary expression in Spanish an act of resistance.
This was a deliberate choice, as in the years following Morocco's brutal annexation of the former Spanish colony, the occupying forces proceeded to completely eliminate the existing Spanish educational system.
It was then replaced with a French/ Arabic educational curriculum that promoted a propagandist Moroccan narrative of historical events and erased Saharawi identity and culture.
Learn more about the Saharawi Tradition of Art as Resistance
Sandblast’s Connection to the Collective:
Early on, Sandblast had the fortune and honor of being involved in promoting the work of this Saharawi literary collective. We helped organise a series of poetry workshops at SOAS and Leeds university, in 2005, inviting Saharawi poets and English poets to work on translating a series of poems for the publication of the first ever bilingual anthology of Saharawi Spanish poetry-31 published in 2006. This number reflected the years in 2006 that the Saharawis had either spent under Moroccan occupation or in exile.
Sandblast was also involved in bringing Saharawi poets from Generation of Saharawi friends to the UK to participate in a series of Latin American poetry events in London throughout 2006/2007. Over the years, this Saharawi Spanish literary collective has sought to render their unifying memories, language, and lives into poetry, and cross generational bridges- fusing traditions of Saharawi poetry with an urgent contemporary need to share their story globally.
Celebrating 20 years in Community
On Thursday, January 22, 2026 the 20th anniversary of the constituent congress of the group of poets from the Saharaui Friendship Generation will be celebrated in Madrid. All are invited and encouraged to join the commemoration for a day of remembrance and literary arts.
January 22nd, 2026 · 10:00 - 20:00 · La Corrala Cultural Center (UAM), Calle Carlos Arniches, 3, Madrid
The event begins at 10 in the morning with an array of speakers and guests, continuing for the full day, with special events like a Saharawi Tea Ceremony, and a closing concert with Saharawi Singer, Suilma Ali.
