Description
Poetry. Translated by Rainer Maria Gassen. Edited by Stanley H. Barkan. Cover Art and Title Painting by Yahya Silo. "An Epiphany for the Soul: In two languages that bridge the waters from Kurdistan to the English-speaking world, Hussein Habasch presents his view of what it means to be a Human. The words tear at the skin and sinew of the reader towards an epiphany for the soul that is both too beautiful for words and, at the same time, a modern searing revelation of the state of Man. How it is possible, after a century of genocides to still write poetry, to still endeavor to epitomize what it is to be Human after such a dehumanizing period? We find in Habasch's poetry some glimmers of what is truly beautiful in being Human. 'Do you see the moon? on the clear sky that night how she moves her head with the melody of the drum and oboe she dances with the nearby clouds and with a happy face comes to us.' Reading AFRIN: AND THE CREATURE THAT USED TO BE CALLED HUMAN BEING, one comes away with a sense of the necessity of being reborn in beauty and sanctity to truly become Human."—Stanley H. Barkan
Author Bio
Hussein Habasch was born in Jakmak-Saghir, a village in Kurdistan, Afrin. In 1970, he started writing poetry in the Kurdish and Arabic languages. He studied journalism at the Lomonosov-University Moscow and was promoted there in 1983; Dr. phil. (PhD). In 1984, Hussein Habasch took residence in Germany. He lives and works in Bonn. In 2000, the author took up teaching Kurdish language-speakers for the City Council of Bonn. In addition, from Summer 2008 until Summer 2010, he conducted Kurdish Language Courses at the Institut für Orient-und Asienwissenschaften of Bonn University. Habasch works as translator from the Arabic, Russian, English, and German languages into Kurdish. Since November 2011, he has been busy working on the Avesta-und Parthi languages, he translates them into the Kurdish language. He has published more than 18 books and numerous articles and has given speeches in Germany and abroad. Some of his poems have been translated into 22 languages. The poet was the President of the Kurdish Pen-Centre e.V. from 1993 through 1996. He is a member of the Verband Deutscher Schriftsteller (VS) Association oif German Authors. In 2017, Hussein Habasch was awarded a Medal by the Academy Mihai Eminescu in Craiovo, Romania. Since August 2017, Habasch has translated "The Poem of the Week ITHACA" into Kurdish, published by the journal Raman in Arbil (Kurdistan). He has participated at International Istanbul Poetry Festival (IIPF) 2010, International Istanbul Beyoglu Poetry Festival IIRISTANBUL 2011, and the Mihai Eminescu International Poetry Festival 2017.
Author City: Bonn GER