ICORN Writers: F - G - H - I - J

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

Kosar Fattahi

Guest Writer, Oslo City of Refuge 2007 - 2009

For more than 18 years Kosar Fattahi has been persecuted for his writing. He was arrested several times for his use of the Kurdish language. In 1992 he was again the target of the Iranian authorities and he was forced to flee to north Irak as a UN refugee. He is a member of Kurdish PEN in Exile and the Association of Kurdish Writers in Iran.

Amin Ghazaei

Guest Writer, Amsterdam City of Refuge 2009 - present

Amin Ghazaei from Iran is an activist of the leftist student movement in Iran and a writer and journalist with a broad curriculum of articles in different Iranian journals. For his political activities and writings, he was arrested 2007 by the Iranian government, interrogated and tortured. Next to his political engagement, he is accepted as one of Iran's prominent theoreticians in the fields of philosophy, feminism, and Marxism, where he has written and translated an acknowledged portfolio of books and papers.  

Jiao Guobiao

Guest writer, Norwich City of Refuge 2008

Jiao Guobiao worked for many years as a journalist for the Chinese Cultural Newspaper and then moved on to the position as Associate Professor of Journalism at Peking University. He has published extensively, both books and articles. After having written a critical article of the communist propaganda which was published overseas, he got severe problems. He was put under house-arrest and under close surveillance and got dismissed from his work. After an invitation to Germany, he came to Norwich as the city's first ICORN guest writer.  

Hossein Heydari

Guest Writer, Bergen City of Refuge 2008 - 2010 

The Kurdish journalist, director and actor from Iran was one of the founders of Andeshe, a Kurdish-Persian journal, in 1997. He worked as a journalist in "Tishk" and "Aso", and was part of a theater group in Mariwan. Heydari has taken part in, and won awards at, several culture festivals as an actor in and a director of plays and films. In 2007, Heidary fled to Southern Kurdistan (Iraq) when the Iranian government arrested his friend Adnan Hassanpour and sentenced him to death. Heidary has since been an active participant in the campaign for Hassanpour, whose sentence has been turned into a lifelong prison term as a result of the campaign. While in exile, Heidary works with the Kurdish-Pershian Xorhelat website, and continues to actively support persecuted writers.

Chenjerai Hove

Guest Writer, Miami City of Refuge 2010 - present
Guest Writer. Stavanger City of Refuge 2005 - 2007

Chenjerai Hove writes poems and novels in both English and Shona. He was a senior literary editor with Zimbabwe Publishing House and has worked as a journalist. Hove studied literature and education in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He was president of the Zimbabwe Writers Union from 1984 to 1989, President of PEN Zimbabwe from 1990 to 2007, and a founding member of the Board of Directors of Zimbabwe Human Rights Association from 1990 to 2000. His novel Bones has won several international awards and was voted among the 100 Best Books of Africa in the last 100 years in 2002, and among the 10 Best Books of Zimbabwe in the last 100 years in 2003. His novel Ancestors won Second Prize from the Zimbabwe Literary Awards in 1997. In 2001, Hove was awarded the German-Africa Prize for Freedom of Expression and Thought. As a result of his criticism of Mugabe's current policy, he now lives in exile. Hove has later helped others to gain from his experiences as the Writers' Representative of the ICORN Advisory Group.

In 2009, Hove co-edited Writers, Writing on Conflict in Africa with Okey Ndibe. To read Chenjerai Hove's short story "Sacrifice", go here. To read "A Letter to my Mother", go here, and for an extended biography go here. You can also listen to Chenjerai Hove read "Changamire" in his native tongue Shona here.

Philo Ikonya

Guest Writer, Oslo City of Refuge 2009 - present

Philo Ikonya is a Kenyan writer, journalist and human rights activist. She holds a masters degree in literature from the University of Nairobi, and is president of Kenyan PEN. Ikonya has written articles for journals, web magazines and blogs, often commenting on the social and political situation in Kenya. She has also written poetry and novels, among these, the novel Kenya, will you marry me.  She has worked as a lecturer of semiotics at Tangaza College of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, and as a a socio-political commentator in both radio and television. Philo Ikonya was threatened and harassed for her work and political activism, and can no longer work in Kenya.

Easterine Kire Iralu

Guest Writer, Tromsø City of Refuge 2005 - 2007

Easterine Kire Iralu is an author and lecturer in English literature who has been forced to flee her home in Nagaland. As someone who, despite her non-violent principles, found herself caught between the Indian government and the Nagaland separatist movement, she has had to live in exile since 2005. In addition to her writing, Easterine Kiri Iralu is also an active storyteller, who often includes musical elements in her presentations. Read her extended bio here.

 Li Jianhong

Guest writer, Stockholm City of Refuge 2008 - 2009

Li Jianhong is a freelance writer and journalist from Shanghai, China. She was very active in her homeland, advocating freedom of expression and edited an independent website. Li Jianhong is member and active in Independent Chinese Pen's Writers in Prison Committee and was a member of their Women's Writers Committee. She was harrassed and put under house arrest in China and came as an ICORN guest writer to Sweden. It was though impossible for her to return to China, since the Chinese government would not let her re-enter into the country. She was forced to go back to Sweden. She now works for Independent Chinese Pen's Writers in Prison Committee.