Translated with DeepL.
Original language: Deutsch
Sayed Mohammad Taqi Akhlaqi (born 1986). The Afghan writer is regarded as an outstanding and critical author. His "Afghan Diary" for NDR made him better known in Germany. His work as a journalist for a daily newspaper that is highly critical of the Taliban means that he is constantly under threat. It is good for his creative work to be able to live and work in the Böll House for a while without threat and with financial security. More about Taqi Akhlaqi
Omar Al Jaffal (born 1988). The Iraqi writer lived in Syria/Damascus. He had to leave Syria for Iraq in 2011. There he worked as a journalist (research on prostitution, corruption, reports on the Iraqi territories controlled by ISIS, etc.). He has worked for major Iraqi magazines and online editorial offices. His commentaries and reports are widely distributed in international media. He is coming under increasing pressure in Iraq. The party "The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council" defames and physically threatens him.
Ahmad Nour Akdeen Kathlesh (born in 1988). The Syrian writer had to leave Syria in 2013 because the regime was persecuting him. He had published the short story "Tell me about God" and won the third prize of the Palestinian Writers' Association in Damascus. After the story was published, he was summoned by the regime's secret service and detained for three days. He was then released without identity papers. He fled to Jordan and lived in the Al Zaatari camp. From there he went to Amman.
Publications by former guests
Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Democratic Republic of the Congo, scholarship holder 2008
Tram 83, novel, Hanser Verlag, 2016
A run-down city in Africa, anyone who comes here has one goal: to make money, no matter how. Streetcar 83 is the city's only nightclub, its pulsating center...
Jovan Nikolic, Serbia, scholarship holder 2000
Das Orchester der Frauen die mich verlassen haben, Erzählungen, Drava Verlag, 2016
A sentimental Baedeker through the hotels and Riviera of ex-Yugoslavia, a tribute to the music and lifestyle of the 60s and 70s...
Contact:
Sigrun Reckhaus
reckhaus@boell.de