Ever since Abbas Jirari published his extensive study on the Moroccan zajal (Jirari 1970), this colloquial poetic form has been viewed as an exemplar of ‘authentic’ Moroccan culture. Despite its popularity and links to the Andalusian past, the zajal has largely been separated from what is considered ‘higher’, more ‘modern’ literature. It is ironic that, over the past thirty years, this notion of Moroccan authenticity has been challenged by contemporary Moroccan zajal poets themselves who seek legitimacy for the zajal as a more widely accepted poetic form to be considered alongside poetry composed in Standard Arabic, as well as other accepted literary languages (for example, French or English). As contemporary Moroccan zajal poets consciously strive for wider recognition within the broader literary realm, they articulate critical views on writing, publishing, and performance in the colloquial register. The contemporary Moroccan zajal provides an interesting intersection of oral and written literature that, while still existing in a Standard Language culture (Milroy 1998), provides an interesting perspective on writing and writing culture in Morocco. While it takes its name and inspiration from the medieval Andalusī zajal, the contemporary Moroccan zajal as it is understood in its written form today traces its beginnings to the 1970s and 1980s, really taking off in the 1990s and 2000s, which, it should be noted, corresponds roughly to the rise of broader language discussions in Morocco concerning language change and the use of Moroccan colloquial Arabic in writing (Miller 2014). Despite its somewhat marginalized status in the contemporary literary scene in Morocco, zajal poetry and criticism is very much a part of these linguistic and literary discussions. In this paper, I will examine the zajal from a historical, aesthetic, and ideological perspective in order to analyze and evaluate its place in the current debates that are occurring in Morocco regarding the use of Moroccan colloquial Arabic (darija) in writing. I consider the form’s history and literary critical works on it, as well as the views of several zajal poets and critics vis à vis the use of Moroccan dārija in writing. Jirārī, ’Abbās. 1970. Al-Zajal Fī-L-Maghrib: Qaṣīda. Rabat. Miller, Catherine. 2014. “Des Passeurs Individuels Au Mouvement Linguistique: Itinéraires de Quelques Traducteurs Au Maroc.” In Dire En Langue, Des Passeurs Au Quotidien, edited by Myriam Achour, Paris and Tunis: IRMC/Karthala. Milroy, Lesley. 1998. Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English. 3 edition. London England ; New York: Routledge.