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Writer-in-Exile Jalal Barzanji finds
sanctuary in Edmonton
16.10.2007
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October
16, 2007
Edmonton, Canada, -- Jalal Barzanji, an
ethnic Kurd, sat in a dirty Iraqi jail cell for
committing what he believes isn’t a crime—writing.
According to him, all that has kept him going is his
longing to continue doing what put him there in the
first place: his desire to continue writing.
Barzanji recently appeared at the University of
Alberta, along with the U of A Writer-In-Residence
Rob McLennan, as a part of a creative writing series
which will feature different writers reading their
work.
Barzanji is the Writer-in-Exile here in Edmonton. He
frequents the Edmonton Public Library, where he is
available for local writers to speak to him about
their writing. Since arriving here in 1998, he has
worked hard to find a position in the writers’
community in Edmonton.
“Since I arrived, I was distant from the writers’
community because I had to work hard to support my
family and learn English,” Jalal says. |
Jalal Barzanji |
“Now that I am starting
my position as Writer-in-Exile, I have connections
with writers, and I would like to become part of the
writers’ community. They are actually being very
supportive because all that I tell them is that the
important thing here in Canada is that they don’t go
to jail for their writing. That’s very important for
writers here because you don’t go to prison for your
thoughts or expressions.”
Barzanji knows first-hand about the hardships caused
by a lack of free speech, having spent three years
in a prison in Iraq for publishing his thoughts and
expressions there.
“When I was writing about peace in Iraq, I knew the
costs were high, and I put myself at risk. Then they
put me in jail, but I don’t regret what I did. All
writers have the right to express their thoughts;
freedom of expression is a basic right for all
writers because most writers write about peace and
beauty. Freedom of expression should be a basic
right for all writers everywhere.”
According to Barzanji, he had even less freedom than
the prisoners in there for other crimes. Those
inmates had visitation hours, but guards would just
shut his door and not let him out during these
times.
“I had a very bad experience in jail,” he explains.
“What’s horrible is that they keep you on separate
sides of the cell and you have to sleep on your
side, you receive no medical attention; and I was
totally separated from my writing and all writing
resources.”
Barzanji believes that his move to Canada has
positively impacted his life and his writing. Even
if it didn’t get off to a strong start, he is
finding that many people and organizations in
Edmonton are very supportive of him.
“I don’t think I would move back because I don’t
believe the situation will stabilize. It’s very
complicated, and I don’t think that free media or
freedom of expression grows under a dictatorship or
an unstable society,” he says.
“Here I have freedom, and now I belong here. I went
back once, and I realized that I don’t fit in that
society. If I go back for good, I feel that I would
put myself in danger.”
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