Nazand Begikhani is a contemporary British writer, poet and academic researcher of Kurdish origin, and an active advocate of human rights.
Begikhani, born in Kurdistan by the steps of the Zagros Mountains, has been living in Europe (Denmark, France and United Kingdom) since 1987. She received her M.A and Ph.D in comparative literature from the Sorbonne in France, and published her first collection of poems in Paris, 1995. She has published five poetry collections in Kurdish and Bells of Speech is her first collection in English. Two of her poetry collections have been translated into French, Couleur de Sable (2011) and Le Lendemain d'Hier (2013). She has also translated works of Baudelaire and T. S. Eliot into Kurdish. Her works in English and French have been published by the Poetry Magazine, Ambit magazine, Poetry Salzburg Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, Exiled Writers' Ink, Action Poétique, etc. Her poetry collections have been translated into many other languages, including Arabic, Persian and German.
The security officer
got up early
put on his white shirt
had honey toast with nuts
...
My body is quiet as a fall of snow
my spirit, a stream
I remember those who passed by here once
crossed the line of light in the sky
...
I'd like to follow in the footsteps of my dreams
to frame my present from my dreams
to plant my words
in their soil
...
A psychologist said
Graveyards may help you feel happier,
visit a graveyard when you are depressed
...