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Stories for life
An interview with Basim Mardan
Posted on 9. December, 2008
Translator and writer, Basim Mardan, was a young librarian at the university in Mosul when the Americans invaded Iraq. A former student of English and linguistics, he was one of the first to celebrate the end of Saddam Hussein's psychopathic regime. He took a job as a translator for the US Marines, full of hope that he and his friends could help to construct a free and democratic Iraq.
Hope was quickly extinguished. The library at Mosul University was torched. He was branded a traitor. His family was terrorised. The CD of a friend being decapitated was left on his doorstep and he received death threats every day. Every household in Iraq was invaded by fear and Mardan went into hiding. His wife gave birth to a son and he returned to Mosul to work for a students' rights organization, until a close colleague was murdered. This time he left Iraq, finding safety for his wife and his child through Kjell Olaf Jensen, President of International PEN in Norway.
Latest news
What is Stories for Life
Stories for Life is an open space in which writers from all over the world can connect and release their stories. Over the next five years of the Shahrazad project, these narratives will be created and disseminated by poets, journalists, novelists, editors, cartoonists, translators and essayists throughout Europe and beyond. They will be introduced to European children and young people in schools and local communities and they too will be invited to respond.
Dejan Anastasijevic
Posted on 5. December, 2008
The Passa Porta house of literature is a member of the international ICORN network, which is committed to providing a haven for persecuted writers for a period of 1 or 2 years. The intention is that this writer is able to take his place in an entirely new political, social and cultural context.
Hakawati: stories for life - stories for love
Posted on 2. December, 2008
Under the caption "Hakawati" more than 40 arabic speaking storytellers have been invited to readings and discussions in different Scandinavian cities. The last stop this year is in Oslo desember 3rd.
Upcoming events
The Storyteller
- The storyteller
- Shahrazad: Stories for Life will bring you new and exciting tales told by writers persecuted and silenced in their own homelands. Many are living as guest writers in a city of refuge.
- Partner Cities
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Shahrazad: Stories for Life is a collaboration between six different organisations...
- Shahrazad: Stories for Life is a collaboration between six different organisations based in six European Cities of Refuge: Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Norwich, Stockholm and Stavanger. While each city offers different approaches and different strengths, we all work for freedom of expression and for literature.