Jawad Elbied was born in the northern Moroccan city of Kenitra but moved to Marrakech where he studied at the university and gained a BA degree in linguistics in 2015.
He is the manager and one of the founding members of a storytelling organization called Hikayat Morocco. He runs bi-weekly training sessions and weekly performances in English and Arabic. He also creates workshops for rural youth in collaboration with the Peace Corps, Project Soar, Dar Si Hmad, Cafe Clock and other associations.
He represented the Hikayat program and performed at the 17th international storytelling festival in Kermanshah in Iran.
He was also invited to tell Moroccan tales at The Scottish International Storytelling Festival and completed an international voluntary study placement at the Scottish Storytelling Center, Edinburgh, in November and December 2015, followed by an additional placement for four months in London, UK.
He also met and worked with storytellers such as Ben Hagarty, Giles Abbott, Nell Phoenix and Jan Blake.
He has been invited to perform at the international storytelling festival in Kenya.
He is back in Morocco and working on creating a series of workshops and performances in Agadir (for university students) and Essaouira (for the association Bayti).
