Faraj Bayrakdar, Syria

(c) Hanna Ward

Faraj Bayrakdar, born in Syria in 1951, is a journalist and a prizewinning poet. Her was arrested in 1987 on suspicion of being a member of the Party for Communist Action. He was imprisoned and tortured for nearly seven years without any contact with the outside world. In 1993 the Supreme Court sentenced him to fifteen years in prison. Fourteen months before the end of his fifteen-year prison sentence, Faraj Bayrakdar was granted an amnesty. He subsequently published several volumes of verse. He is a former guest writer of Stockholm City of Refuge.

Publications (Selection):
You Are Not Alone. 1979
Dove in Free Flight. Damaskus, 1997

Publications in German Translation:
Spiegel der Abwesenheit, übersetzt von Wahid Naderr. Verlag Hans Schiller, 2013

Prices (Selection):
1999: International PEN Award
2004: Free Word Award, NOVIB Netherland
2006: Oxfam Novib / PEN Freedom of Expression Award Netherlands
2007: Tucholsky-Preis, Schweden

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