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Read this interview in its original Arabic here. Syrian writer and poet Faraj Bayrakdar has long been known as a staunch opponent to the Assad regime. In the 1970s, he and other left-leaning writers took part in editing and publishing an underground literary zine known only as “the pamphlet.” They printed in secret at library […]
Over the course of a year in the 1970s, a group of Syrian leftist poets and short story writers gathered to publish an underground literary zine, clandestinely printing at university libraries and handing out copies to students and friends. The publication went unnamed and, at least for a little for a while, outside the radar of the mukhabarat. In the short period before its editors either faced arrest or were forced into hiding, “the pamphlet,” as it came to be known, made waves through Syria’s literary scene.
"I have to admit: I think I have a double personality. When I am in the company of artists and novelists, I forget about politics and politicians, and as soon as I take up a political activity, I forget the intellectuals and novelists. When I go to a concert or see a new play, I forget everything else."
URL copied to clipboard There is a vast archive of Syrian Prison Literature. Shareah Taleghani’s latest book navigates through the difficult narratives focusing on human rights in this genre. In her latest book, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,2020) R. Shareah Taleghani, assistant professor and director of Middle East studies at Queens College, City University of New York, argues that prison literature led to an “experimental shift” in Arabic literature since the 1960s. Her decade long research on this topic explores how Syrian prison literature changed since the early 1970s un...