ISH AIT HAMOU

A masterful storyteller

‘Giving people a voice, that’s what I do with my characters’

Ish Ait Hamou is the son of a Maroccan immigrant who arrived with his wife in Vilvoorde, a small city near Brussels. He’s the youngest of four children. He was a choreographer and judge on the Belgian version of ‘So you think you can dance’ but he sees himself primarily as a storyteller. His first interest was dancing. Years later, he wrote his first novel Hard heart (2014), which is a love story. So far, 30.000 copies were sold.

© Shed Mojahid

Three more bestsellers follow. Cécile (2015), about a young Morrocan boy whose curiosity changes his whole life and that of others, went into his fourth edition within its first month of publication (May 2015). The 14th edition was printed in May 2019, 42.000 copies were sold so far.

His shot story If you lose someone you cannot afford to lose (2016), immediately entered the Top 10. At the moment, 27.000 copies are sold.
In October 2019, Ish presented his latest novel The beauty that we share. Four months later, 35.000 copies are sold. The novel is currently for the 20th week on the 1st place of the top 10 in Flanders.

Today Ish is an indispensable part of the literary scene, an established figure on social media and television and an important voice in public debate.

CONNECT PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND CULTURES

Ish knows how to turn a story into words and sentences to inspire his readers. At record speed, he moved the majority of the Belgian youngsters to read. The time he invests to connect with his readers, to listen to their stories and even include them in his thoughts, is unseen. An increasing number of fans from different ages and cultures get in touch with each other by following his work on social media. In his own television program ‘Alors on danse’, Ish challenges unexperienced employees from different companies and with different positions to dance against each other in a battle.

A NUANCED VOICE IN PUBLIC DEBATE

It didn’t take long for nationale media to pick up Ish as an important influencer of a very large and diverse part of society. In 2016, he was seen in primetime in ‘Back to your own country’ (SBS Belgium), a television program in which five famous Belgians travel in the track of the refugees coming from Iraq and Syria. Although Ish never wanted to ben an opinion maker, he has become a much appreciated guest in new programs.

In 2018 and 2019, he presented his theater show ‘Aangenaam. Ik ben Ish’ (Nice to meet you. I am Ish) in 44 theaters all over Flanders. More than 50.000 people attented the performance.