Salim Barakat

is of Kurdish origin, born in 1951 in Qamishli, Syria, where he was brought up and spent most of his adult life. He has explored his own Kurdish culture as well as the Arabic, Assyrian, Armenian, Circassian and Yazidi ones. In 1970 he went to Damascus to study Arabic Literature but after one year he moved to Beirut where he stayed until 1982, publishing five volumes of poetry, two novels, a diary and two volumes of autobiography. In Cyprus, where he worked as an associate editor of the Palestinian quarterly Al-Karmel, he published a further three volumes of poetry and five novels. By 1999, the year he moved to Sweden, he had published his tenth book of poetry and two more novels including Debris of the Second Eternity, which is arguably his best work of fiction. Barakat’s early poetry was revolutionary for its time, both in style and theme, and acquired instant recognition. His work displays unique characteristics and has distinguished him in the scene of Arabic poetry.