FADHIL AL-AZZAWI Comments

1. Fadhil Al Azzawi (born 1940 in Kirkuk, Iraq) is an Iraqi poet and novelist who has published around 30 volumes of poetry, novels, short stories, criticism and autobiography, as well as translating many English and German literary works into Arabic and vice versa. He holds a BA in English Literature from Baghdad University.

2. Fadhil Al Azzawi spent three years in jail under the dictatorship of the Ba`th regime. As the Baathist-controlled regime became increasingly powerful, Fadhil decided to leave Iraq in 1976 for political reasons.

3. He later earned a doctorate in communications studies from Leipzig University. He has worked as a freelance journalist and translator for Arab newspapers and cultural reviews. Since 1983 he has lived in Berlin as a full-time writer.