ICORN Writers: A - B - C - D - E

Click on the alphabetical list to read the writers' biographies.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Svetlana Alexievich

Born in the Ukraine, Svetlana is an ICORN Guest Writer currently hosted by the City of Gothenburg. She is an award-winning author whose works have been the basis for documentary films focusing on witnessing and national crisis. Her most recent book is Voices from Chernobyl .

Salah At-Tarjuman

. . . is a pseudonym for a current ICORN Guest Writer whose identity cannot be revealed at this time. We hope that we will be able to present this person's real name and writing credentials in the near future. Please check back.

Soudabeh Alishahi

Soudabeh Alishahi grew up in Iran and worked as a high school teacher for many years. Her short stories focused on controversial subjects such as women's rights and were consequently censored in Iran.

In 2001 Soudabeh Alishahi became Oslo's first City of Refuge Guest Writer. She is currently working on a new novel.

Photo: Lars Aarønæs

Faraj Bayrakdar

Guest Writer, Stockholm City of Refuge

Faraj Bayrakdar of Syria is a journalist and award-winning poet.

In 1987 he was arrested on suspicion of belonging to the Party for Communist Action. He was held incommunicado for nearly seven years and was tortured. In 1993 the supreme court sentenced him to fifteen years prison.

Fourteen months shy of completing the fifteen year sentence, Faraj Baryakdar was granted Amnesty. You can read the statement he made for the press upon his release (courtesy of English PEN) here.

Photo:

Boubacar Boris Diop

Guest Writer pf Mexico City Casa Refugio, City of Refuge, Boubacar Boris Diop was born in Dakar, Senegal, where he attended a French school. Even before he finished high school, he wrote an unpublished novel describing he experience of racism. He got a degree in Literature and Philosophy and began teaching elementary school. An anti-colonialist, he was politically active. In 1981 he published his first novel, which won the Prix du Bureau Sénégalais du Droit d'Auteur. His second novel also won an award. His third novel was based on interviews with the survivors of the 1998 Tutsi genocide.

Gilles Dossou-Gouin

ICORN Guest Writer, Molde City of Refuge

Gilles Dossou-Gouin was born in Benin and identifies himself as belonging to the ethnic group Fon. He studied the humanities, theology and philosophy as a Séminariste among the Catholic monks. He also attended the International School of Detectives and Experts.

His first novel, published in 1996 was entitled God's Symbolism and the Imaginary . The book was a critical, socio-political satire and received nation-wide attention. In 1997 the controversy surrounding it forced Gilles Dossou-Gouin to flee to Senegal, where he lived in exile.

His second novel The Black Cry of the Negro was published in June of 2003 with the help of UNESCO. Gilles Dossou-Gouin is an activist and writes articles to promote Human Rights, and the Rights of Women and Children.

Islam Elsanov

Former ICORN Guest Writer Islam Elsanov is a filmmaker and writer from Chechnya, a former Guest Writer of Stavanger City of Refuge. He has a MA in Literature from the Gorkij Writers Institute. For eight years Islam Elsanov edited the literary journal Grozni and he also worked as a book editor for the Grozni publishing house. He is currently working on a feature-length historical documentary.