Salim Barakat ( ar, سليم بركات, ku, Selîm Berekat) (born 1 September 1951 in Qamishli) is a Kurdish-

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n novelist and poet. He was brought up in Qamishli in northern Syria and spent most of his youth there. In 1970 he moved to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

to study

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

but after one year he moved to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

where he stayed until 1982. While in Beirut he published five volumes of poetry, a diary and two volumes of autobiography. He moved to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

and worked as a managing editor of the prestigious Palestinian journal '' Al-Karmel'', whose editor was Mahmoud Darwish. In 1999 he moved to Sweden, where he still resides. His works explore his own Kurdish culture and chronicle their plight and history, as well as

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyri ...

, Armenian, Circassian and

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The ma ...

culture. His earliest major prose work, ''Al-Jundub al-Hadidi'' ("The Iron Grasshopper"), is an autobiographical narration of his childhood in Qamishli. The book explores the violent and raw conditions of his early adolescent life, suffused with nostalgic feelings for the Kurdish land and culture. The first part of the book's lengthy subtitle translates to, "The unfinished memoir of a child who never saw anything but a fugitive land." Barakat is considered one of the most innovative poets and novelists writing in the

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. Stefan G. Meyer has described his style as "the closest by any Arab writer's to that of

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-e ...

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

" and has called Barakat "perhaps the master prose stylist writing in Arabic today". Due to his complex style and application of techniques taken from classical Arabic literature, his influence has been almost one of a "

neoclassicist Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism wa ...

Published works (in Arabic)

Novels

* (1985) ''The Sages of Darkness'' ( ar, فقهاء الظلام) * (1987) ''Geometric Spirits'' ( ar, أرواح هندسية) * (1990) ''The Feathers'' ( ar, الريش) * (1993) ''The Camps of Infinity'' ( ar, معسكرات الأبد) * (1994) ''The Astrologers on the Tuesday of Death: Crossing of the Flamingo'' ( ar, الفلكيون في ثلثاء الموت: عبور البشروش) * (1996) ''The Astrologers on the Tuesday of Death: Cosmos'' ( ar, الفلكيون في ثلثاء الموت: الكون) * (1997) ''The Astrologers on the Tuesday of Death: The Liver of Milaeus'' ( ar, الفلكيون في ثلثاء الموت: كبد ميلاؤس) * (1999) ''Debris of the Second Eternity'' ( ar, أنقاض الأزل الثاني) * (2001) ''Seals and Nebula'' ( ar, الأختام والسديم) * (2003) ''Delshad'' ( ar, دلشاد) * (2004) ''The Caves of Haydrahodahose'' ( ar, كهوف هايدراهوداهوس) * (2005) ''Thadrimis'' ( ar, ثادريميس) * (2006) ''Novice Dead'' ( ar, موتى مبتدئون) * (2007) ''The Sand Ladders'' ( ar, السلالم الرملية) * (2008) ''The Anguish of Indescribable Perplexing Intimacy in the Voice of Sarmak'' ( ar, لوعة الأليف اللا موصوف المحير في صوت سارماك) * (2010) ''The Agitation of Geese'' ( ar, هياج الإوزّ) * (2010) ''Crushed Hoofs in Haydrahodahose'' ( ar, حوافر مهشمة في هايدراهوداهوس) * (2011) ''Vacant Sky Over Jerusalem'' ( ar, السماء شاغرة فوق أورشليم) * (2012) ''Vacant Sky Over Jerusalem, Part II'' ( ar, السماء شاغرة فوق أورشليم 2) * (2013) ''The Mermaid and her Daughters'' ( ar, حورية الماء وبناتها) * (2014) ''Prisoners of Mount Ayayanu East'' ( ar, سجناء جبل أيايانو الشرقي) * (2016) ''Regions of the Djinn'' ( ar, أقاليم الجنّ) * (2016) ''The Captives of Sinjar'' ( ar, سبايا سنجار ) * (2017) ''The Roaring of Shadows in Zenobia's Gardens'' ( ar, زئير الظلال في حدائق زنوبيا ) * (2018) ''A Biography of Existence and a Brief History of Resurrection'' ( ar, سيرة الوجود وموجز تاريخ القيامة ) * (2019) ''What about the Jewish lady Rachel?'' ( ar, ماذا عن السيدة اليهودية راحيل؟ ) * (2020) ''Encyclopedia of Perfection without Distortion: The Genesis of Minerals'' ( ar, موسوعة الكمال بلا تحريف: نشوء المعادن ) * (2021) ''Medusa does not comb her hair'' ( ar, ميدوسا لا تسرّح شعرها ) * (2021) ''The Snow is more treacherous in the Spruce Forests'' ( ar, الثلوج أكثر خداعًا في غابات التنّوب ) * (2022) ''Those Little Girls and their Paper Bags'' ( ar, هؤلاء الصغيرات وأكياسهنّ الورقية )

Poetry

* (1973) ''Each Newcomer Shall Hail Me, So Shall Each Outgoer'' ( ar, كل داخل سيهتف لأجلي، وكل خارج أيضاً) * (1975) ''Thus Do I Disperse Moussissana'' ( ar, هكذا أبعثر موسيسانا) * (1977) ''For the Dust, for Shamdin, for Cycles of Prey and Cycles of Kingdoms'' ( ar, للغبار، لشمدين، لأدوار الفريسة وأدوار الممالك) * (1979) ''The Throngs'' ( ar, الجمهرات) * (1981) ''The Cranes'' ( ar, الكراكي) * (1983) ''By the Very Traps, by the Very Foxes Leading the Wind'' ( ar, بالشّباك ذاتها، بالثعالب التي تقود الريح) * (1991) ''The Falconer'' ( ar, البازيار) * (1996) ''Recklessness of the Ruby'' ( ar, طيش الياقوت) * (1997) ''Confrontations, Covenants, Threshing Floors, Adversities, etc.'' ( ar, المجابهات، المواثيق الأجران، التصاريف، وغيرها) * (2000) ''Hefts'' ( ar, المثاقيل) * (2005) ''Lexicon'' ( ar, المعجم) * (2008) ''The People of Three O'clock at Dawn on the Third Thursday'' ( ar, شعب الثالثة فجرا من الخميس الثالث) * (2009) ''Translating Basalt'' ( ar, ترجمة البازلت) * (2011) ''The Flood'' ( ar, السيل) * (2012) ''The Haughtiness of Homogeneity'' ( ar, عجرفة المتجانس) * (2012) ''Gods'' ( ar, آلهة) * (2014) ''The North of Hearts or their West'' ( ar, شمال القلوب أو غربها) * (2015) ''Syria'' ( ar, سوريا) * (2016) ''The Great Poem of Love'' ( ar, الغزليّة الكبرى) * (2016) ''All the doors'' ( ar, الأبواب كلّها) * (2018) ''Alerting the Animal to its Ancestry'' ( ar, تنبيه الحيوان إلى أنسابه) * (2019) ''The Spoils of the Athletes and the Teachings they adhere to'' ( ar, مغانم الرياضيّين والتعاليم كما التزموها) * (2021) ''The Five Hundred Shrapnels'' ( ar, الشظايا الخمسمائة) * (2022) ''Spiritual Denunciation'' ( ar, تنديد روحاني)

Autobiographies

* (1976) ''Church of the Warrior'' ( ar, كنيسة المحارب) * (1980) ''The Iron Grasshopper'' ( ar, الجندب الحديدي) * (1982) ''Play High the Trumpet, Play It the Highest'' ( ar, هاته عالياً، هات النّفير على آخره)

Collections

* (1992) ''Diwan'' ( ar, الديوان) * (1999) ''Pharmacopoeia'' ( ar, الأقراباذين) (Collected essays) * (2007) ''Poetical Works'' ( ar, الأعمال الشعرية) (Collected poems 1973–2005) * (2010) ''Expediting the Loans of Prose'' ( ar, التعجیل فی قروض النثر) (Essays and articles 1983–2008) * (2017) ''Poetical Works 2'' ( ar, الأعمال الشعرية 2) (Collected poems 2008–2016)

Children's books

* (1975) ''Narjis'' ( ar, نرجس) * (1980) ''Who Guards the Earth?'' ( ar, من يحرس الأرض) * (1980) ''Sleep'' ( ar, النوم)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barakat, Salim 1951 births Living people People from Qamishli Syrian Kurdish people Syrian novelists Syrian poets Kurdish poets Syrian emigrants to Sweden