Afghan literary history is based on a rich narrative tradition, which was strongly influenced by lyricism in both Dari-Farsi and Pashto. It was not until the 20th century that the prose form gained greater importance. Literary magazines, radio broadcasts, and translations of Western works gave rise to a variety of literary associations and currents. The invasion of the Soviet Union, the civil war under the rule of the Mujaheddin, and the subsequent seizure of power by the Taliban led to a wave of exiled writers, and although there was a renewed flurry of literary activity in the period between the two Taliban regimes, many of Afghanistan's literary voices are no longer to be found in the country itself, but in exile. Germany plays an important role here.
The challenges in the host countries are very different, from existential questions of professional practice to language and translation issues to the difficulty of visibility and publication. What is the current situation of Afghan literature in exile in Germany? What structural and cultural challenges do writers from Afghanistan encounter here? What initiatives and support possibilities are there?
The panel would like to give an overview of the current situation of Afghan writers in Germany. At the same time, it is the start of a series of events lasting several months, which would like to address the diverse topics of Afghan diaspora literature in Europe.
Host:
Mohibullah Zegham, born in Khost in 1973, is an Afghan writer, translator and editor. He has published novels, short story collections, children's books, travelogues, and essay collections, and translated books on psychology, medicine, literature, and a gentle interpretation of Islamic practice. His young adult novel Kabay and Monok won the 2018 Afghanistan Center of Kabul University (AKCU) First Prize. The English translation of this story is published by Pen It! Publications, LLC, 2020. His short story The Tiger has appeared in Flash Fiction International.
Guests:
Taqi Akhlaqi was born in Afghanistan in March 1986. He was still a child when his family emigrated to Iran, where he went to school. He returned to Afghanistan with his family in 2004, and studied international relations at Kabul University. His love of literature has kept him reading and writing for the past twenty years, and has helped him survive war conditions in Afghanistan. He has received a number of awards and recognitions for his work in fiction. His debut novel Kabul 1400 (originally written in Farsi/Dari), will be published by Borj Publishing House in Iran in August 2023. Since September 2021, after the return of the Taliban, he has been living in Berlin with his family as a freelance writer.
Hadia Armaghan was born in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif in 1992. She studied law and political science, has been writing poetry since the age of twelve and is involved in the fields of media and human rights in Afghanistan. She is the co-founder of Khana Farhangi-e-Parto (Cultural House for Women) and editor of the magazine "Alf Ta Ya" ("A to Z"). Her collection of poems called "Farda ra Warq bazan" (literally: "to open the next day") was published in 2020. She participated in the International Poetry Festival in Metz, France. Her poems were translated from Persian into French and published. In 2022, she participated in the Salsal International Poetry Festival in Sweden. Armaghan is a member of the Writers Association of Balkh and the Afghanistan Pen Center Association.
Dr. Mohammad Dawood Wafa is a writer, author, literary scholar and journalist. He was born in 1975 in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Due to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, he migrated to Pakhtunkhwa at the age of five, where he attended school. He studied at the Pashto Department of the Faculty of Languages and Literature at Nangarhar University from 1993-97. He completed his master's degree in Pashto literature at Kabul University in 2014 and his PhD at Peshawar University's Pashto Academy in 2022. He was appointed professor of Pashto literature at Nangarhar University in 2005, where he served until 2022. Wafa published numerous works, including A Guide to Identifying Folklore Literature,
a brief history on the development of literature and culture in Nangarhar, Stars in the Sky of Literature (Tazikra), Fundamentals of Folklore. He also wrote about journalism, literature and humanistic values. He moved to Germany with his family since the Taliban came to power in 2021.
Sur Israfil studied Islamic law at Herat State University and completed her legal internship at Kabul University. She worked in Afghanistan for several years as a lawyer and legal advisor in state institutions. She gained further work experience in the fields of press and broadcasting. She founded the hashtag "Me and my pregnancy", which invited Afghan women to share their pregnancy experiences. Israfil also participated in the "Where is my name?" campaign. She published the poetry collection "Israfil in Detention" in Farsi and a collection of women's narratives on her emergency evacuation entitled "Escape from the Sacred Fortress". Since her childhood, Israfil has gathered migration experiences in different countries. She is currently responsible for all public relations work for the refugee rights counselling office Yaar e.V. in Berlin.
The event was supported by the Goethe-Institut Hamburg (Centre for International Cultural Education).
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