Bachtyar Ali Muhammed

Ali started out as a poet and essayist, but has established himself as an influential novelist from the mid-1990s. He has published thirteen novels, and several collections of poetry and essays.

Since the mid-1990s, Ali has been living in Germany (Frankfurt, Cologne and most recently Bonn). In his academic essays, he has dealt with various subjects, such as the 1988 Saddam-era Anfal genocide campaign, the relationship between the power and intellectuals and other philosophical issues. He often employs western philosophical concepts to interpret an issue in Kurdish society, modifying or adapting them to his context.

In 2016 his novel Ghezelnus u Baxekani Xeyal ("Ghazalnus and the Gardens of Imagination") was published in English under the title I Stared at the Night of the City. The first Kurdish-language novel to be published in English, it was translated by London-based journalist and translator Kareem Abdulrahman. In the same year, his novel Duwahamin Henari Dunya ("The World's Last Pomegranate") was translated into German by Rawezh Salim and Ute Cantera-Lang under the title Der letzte Granatapfel ("The Last Pomegranate").

Education

Ali finished his pre-university education in Slemani. He attended Shaykh Salam Primary School, Azmar Secondary School and Halkawt Preparatory School. He started studying Geology at the University of Sulaimani, and later Salahaddin University in Arbil (Kurdish, Hawler:هەولێر), the current capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Region. Ali speaks Kurdish, Arabic, Persian, German, and has a working knowledge of English.

Writing career

He wrote his first prominent piece of writing in 1983, a long poem called Nishtiman ("The Homeland"; Kurdish; نیشتمان). His first article, titled La parawezi bedangi da ("In the margin of silence") in the Pashkoy, Iraq newspaper in 1989. He started to publish and hold seminars after the 1991 uprising against the Iraqi government, as the Kurds started to establish a de facto semi-autonomous region in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan and enjoy a degree of freedom of speech. He could not have published most of his work before 1991 because of strict political censorship under Saddam.

Along with several other writers of his generation—most notably Mariwan Wirya Qani, Rebin Hardi and Sherzad Hasan—he started a new intellectual movement in Kurdistan, mainly through holding seminars. The same group in 1991 started publishing a philosophical journal, Azadi ("Freedom"; Kurdish:ئازادی), of which only five issues were published, and then Rahand ("Dimension"; Kurdish:رەهەند).

In 1992, he published his first book, a poetry collection titled Gunah w Karnaval ("Sin and the Carnival"; Kurdish:گوناه و کەڕنەڤال). It contained several long poems, some which were written in the late 1980s. His first novel, Margi Taqanay Dwam ("The death of the second only child"; Kurdish:مەرگی تاقانەی دووەم), the first draft of which was written in the late 1980s, was published in 1997.

In 2017, he received the Nelly-Sachs-Preis award, which is only given every other year. It was the first time that the prize was awarded to someone who doesn't write in a European language.

Poetry

Gûnah û Kerneval (The Sin and the Carnival), 1992.

Bohîmy û Estêrekan (Bohemian and the Stars), 2000.

Koy Berheme Şî'riyekan; (Collection of complete works of poetry), 1983–1998.

Îşkirdin le Daristanekany Fîrdeûs da (Working in the Forests of Heaven), 2004.

Ta Matemî gûl.. Ta Xwênî Frişte ('Till the Funeral of Flower.. 'Till the Angel's Blood); Complete works (1983–2004).

Ey Benderî Dost.. Ey Keştî dûjmin (O the Port of Friend.. O the Ship of Enemy), 2009.

Şewêk Asman pir bû le Estêrey Şet (A Night the Sky was Full of Crazy Stars), 2019.

Novels

His novels can be categorized as magic realism.

Mergî Taqaney Duwem (The Death of the Second Only Child), 1997

Êwarey Perwane (Parwane's Evening), 1998

Translated into Kurmanji by Avesta under the title Êavara Perwaneyê, 2012

Translated into Persian by Mariwan Halabjaee under the title غروب پروانه 2017

Duwahamîn Henarî Dûnya (The Last Pomegranate of the World), 2002

Translated into Persian by Arash Sinjabi under the title آخرین انار دنیا 2009

Translated into Persian by Mariwan Halabjaee under the title آخرین انار دنیا 2014

Translated into German by Rawezh Salim and Ute Cantera-Lang under the title Der letzte Granatapfel, 2016

Translated into Kurmanji by Avesta under the title Hinara Dawî ya Dinyayê, 2017

Translated into Italian by M. Diotalevi under the title L'Ultimo Melograno, 2018

Translated into Arabic by Ghassan Hamdan under the title آخرُ رمان الدنيا 2018

Translated into Arabic by Ibrahim Khalil and Abdullah Sheikho under the title آخر رمَّانات العَالم 2019

Shari Mosiqare Spiyekan (The City of the White Musicians), 2006

Translated into German by Peschawa Fatah and Hans-Ulrich Müller-Schwefe under the title Die Stadt der weißen Musiker, 2017

Xezelnûs û Baxekanî Xeyal (Ghazalnus and the Gardens of Imagination), 2008

Translated into English by Kareem Abdulrahman under the title of I Stared at the Night of the City, 2016

Koşkî Balinde Xemgînekan (Mansion of the Sad Birds), 2009

Second Edition, 2014 ISBN 978-1-63068-980-3

Translated to Kurmanji by Avesta, 2017

Cemşîd Xanî Mamim: Ke Hemîşe Ba Legel Xoyda Deybird (My Uncle Jamshid Khan : Whom the Wind Was Always Taking), 2010

Translated into Kurmanji by Avesta under the title Apê min Cemşîd xan kû hertum bê ew li ber xwe dibir, 2012

Translated into Persian by Mariwan Halabjaee under the title جمشید خان عمویم، که باد همیشە او را با خو می برد 2016

Keştî Friştekan – Bergî Yekem (The Angels' Ship ), 2012

Keştî Friştekan – Bergî Duwem (The Angels' Ship ), 2013

Hewrekanî Danial (The Clouds of Danial), 2015

Keşti Friştekan – Bergî Sêyem (The Angels' Ship ), 2017

Deryas û Laşekan (Deryas and the Bodies), 2019

Essays

Welam le Rojgarî Winbûnî Pirsiyarda (Answers in the Age of Absence of Questions); 13 reviews with the writer, 2003.

Îman û Cengaweranî (Faith and its Warriors), 2004.

Xwênerî Kûşinde (Fatal Reader), 2005.

Sêwî Sêhem (Third Apple), 2009.

Çêjî Mergdostî (The Taste of Mournfluness), 2011.

Le Diyarewe bo Nadiyar (From Visible to Invisible), 2011.

Wek Balindey naw Cengele Tirsinakekan (Like the Birds in the Scary Jungles), 2012.

Awrekey Orfîûos (Orpheus's Turn), 2014.

Nersîsî Kûjraw (Murdered Narcissus), 2015.

Rexne le 'Eqlî Faşîsty (Critic on Fascistic Minds), 2015

Cûaniyekany Nareky (Beauties of Irregularity), 2015.

Yadewery û Zemen (Memory and Time), 2015

Naşwên (No-place), 2019

Xorhelat û Lebîrkirawekany (East and its Forgottens); About the novel Deryas û Laşekan, 2019

Aîdolojîst (Ideologist), 2019.