Woe to the Conquered: Selim Temo’s Nightlands
Kurdish poetry abounds but rarely appears in English. Jordan Elgrably reviews a bilingual English-Kurdish edition of Selim Temo's "Nightlands."
Kurdish literature
Wandering and Endless Sorrow: Farhad Pirbal’s The Potato Eaters
Cory Oldweiler reviews the debut story collection by Farhad Pirbal, one of Kurdistan's iconic writers, now out from Deep Vellum.
On the Herculean Task of Translating Joyce’s Ulysses into Kurdish
Kawa Nemir felt he'd been preparing to undertake the translation of James Joyce's masterpiece his whole life...
Kurdish Novel Explores Nightmarish Isolation in Eastern Anatolia
Kaya Genç reviews Ebru Ojen's newly translated novel, an exploration of a Kurdish mother grappling with the sacrifices of motherhood.
“Sweet Tea”—a classic Kurdish story by Hussein Arif
In this short story translated from Kurdish for the first time, a young man discovers that his discomfort was suppressing his true feelings.
Bakhtiyar Ali: “The Prisoner and the Plague”
From one of the most prominent contemporary authors and poets from Iraqi Kurdistan comes an unforgettable tale of oppression, and freedom.
Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature
Kurdish writer Ava Homa on how statelessness, trauma and political exile shaped her novel "Daughters of Smoke and Fire."
The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi
Excerpted from the anthology Kurdish Women’s Stories (Pluto Press, 2020), by special arrangement with editor Houzan Mahmoud. The Prison Speakers Played Islamic Verses Kobra Banehi Kobra Banehi, also known… Continue reading The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi
Breathing in a Plague
Kurdish poet-scholar-translator Selîm Temo thinks of the young Thomas Bernhard and his infant son as he fights for life in intensive care.