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Sweden: Famous Kurdish novelist Mehmed
Uzun has cancer
29.5.2006
By Vladimir van Wilgenburg, Journalist, Netherlands
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Monday, May 29, 2006, -
The famous Kurdish novelist Mehmed Uzun has cancer.
Docters say that Uzun has a maximum of six months to
live. Mehmed Uzun stays at the biggest hospital of
Sweden, the Karolinska-hospital.
Mehmed Uzun, was born in Sivereg near Riha (Urfa) in
North-Kurdistan. The 53 year old writer became
famous, because he was the first writer that wrote
in (New) Kurdish. Since 1977 he lived in exile, in
the intellectual climate of Sweden.
He fled Turkey, after he has been charged several
times due to his activities in the field of Kurdish
literature. He also received death threats. Even in
the spring of 2001 he faced a trial.
The linguist Uzun was very important for the
development of Kurdish literature. He published
seven novels in Kurdish, of which several were
translated in other languages. One of his famous
books are “Tu” (You”), “Tari mina mirene (Dark as
death), etc. Uzun was awarded with the Torgny
Segerstedt price in 2001.
Uzun is currently busy with his new novel “Heviya
Auerbauch” (The hope of Auerbauch). It’s not clear
if this novel will still be finished. |
Mehmed Uzun, the famous Kurdish novelist
Photo: Internet |
On 12 December in the Palace of Art in Hewler, the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) awarded Uzun for
his work for Kurdish literature, particularly the
art of novel.
It’s safe to say, that his death, would be a great
loss for Kurdish art, literature and culture.
Works
He has published seven novels in Kurdish. Uzun
published his first attempt at a modern Kurdish
novel in 1985, Tu(You). After that he edited an
anthology of Kurdish literature, the first of its
kind. Critical success came with his novel "In the
Shadow of a Lost Love". The story fictionalizes a
1920s Kurdish intellectual's failed struggle to
pursue both his love for a woman and his duty to
fight the newly formed Turkish republic. His novels
began to be translated into European languages in
the 1990s.
Two of his books have been published in Swedish: a
collection of essays, Granatäppelblomning (The
Pomegranate Flowers), and the novel I skuggan av en
förlorad kärlek (In the Shadow of a Lost Love). In
collaboration with Madeleine Grive, he has also
published an international anthology, Världen i
Sverige (The World in Sweden), a pioneering
anthology of texts by writers who were not born in
Sweden, but who are living and writing in this
country. He also publishes in the journal of the
Kurdish Institute of Paris, Kurmancî. He has won the
Torgny Segerstedt Award for 2001 for his pioneering
work in a narrative tradition at once new and old,
and for his moral life adventure and his undaunted
belief in the power of the word.
More information
Wikipedia Mehmed Uzun
Sources: Azady.nl
http://vladimirkurdistan.blogspot.com
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