Bachtyar Ali portrait

Bachtyar Ali

Quick Facts

  • Region: Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
  • Born: 1960, Sulaymaniyah
  • Known for: Kurdish novels and essays
  • Residence: Germany

Overview

Bachtyar Ali is a Kurdish novelist and poet whose work helped modernize Kurdish prose fiction. His novels explore memory, exile, and the political history of Kurdistan.

He is one of the most widely read Kurdish novelists in translation.

Life and Work

Ali studied in Sulaymaniyah and later lived abroad, where he continued publishing novels and essays. Several of his works have been translated into European languages.

Legacy

He is regarded as a major voice in contemporary Kurdish literature.

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