The madman of freedom square was published by comma press in 2009. Hassan blasim had to leave iraq to avoid persecution, eventually settling in finland. A critic of saddam husseins regime, he was persecuted and in 1998 fled baghdad to iraqi kurdistan, where he made films and taught filmmaking under the pseudonym ouazad osman. One of blasims less obscure tales is the reality and the record.
The corpse exhibition and other stories of iraq by hassan. Hassan blasim is a writer, a poet, and an awardwinning filmmaker. Hassan blasim hassan blasim is a poet, filmmaker, and shortstory writer. One can only imagine how excited the publisher must have felt when blasim handed them allah99, just the. Hassan blasim was born in baghdad in 1973 and studied at the baghdad academy of cinematic arts. Published in uk by comma press in 20 winner of the independent foreign fiction prize, 2014. Born in baghdad in 1973, he moved to finland in 2004 to escape the war. The home country of the best literature is literature. A soldier with the ability to predict the future finds himself blackmailed by an insurgent into the ultimate act of terror fleeing a robbery, a baghdad shopkeeper falls into a. Hassan blasims fiction is angry, often surreal, mired in the violence. Hassan blasim a black comedy an iraqi refugee comes to london in search of his dream.
The madman of freedom square by hassan blasim from hostagevideo makers in baghdad, to human trafficking in the forests of serbia, institutionalised paranoia in the saddam years, to the nightmares of an exile trying to embrace a new life in amsterdam. A horrifying creature stalks the bombedout streets of postwar baghdad, seeking vengeance. The other important thing is to have an imagination which is not melodramatic. Blasim is the winner of the 2009 and 2012 english pen writers in.
It chronicles the travails of a humble ambulance driver, kidnapped and forced to act in propaganda videos variously as an afghan jihadist, a sunni terrorist, a shiite martyr, a kurd, an infidel christian, a saudi terrorist, a syrian baathist intelligence agent. He is a citizen of finland blasim went to finland as a refugee in 2004 after getting in trouble when making the film the wounded camera in the kurdish. An interview with hassan blasim hassan blasim is a poet, filmmaker and short story writer. All posts unless otherwise stated remain the property of tony malone. Publishers weekly best books of 2014, for the corpse exhibition. December 10, 2016 this new anthology of science fiction and fantasy, edited by hassan blasim, imagines iraq 100 years after the invasion of 2003. Hassan blasim, author of the acclaimed debut collection the madman of freedom square, returns with 14 more stories of profane lyricism, skewed symbolism and macabre romanticism. Mar 19, 20 hassan blasim is a poet, filmmaker and shortstory writer.
There is much about hassan blasim that demands attention. Awardwinning iraqi author hassan blasim reads his story the reality and the record both arabic and english, a story set in the aftermath of. Mar 20, 20 hassan blasim, author of the acclaimed debut collection the madman of freedom square, returns with 14 more stories of profane lyricism, skewed symbolism and macabre romanticism. Both madman of freedom square and the iraqi christ books are short story collections. The corpse exhibition and other stories of iraq by hassan blasim. Jonathan wright has been an arabic translator for more than 30 years and has worked as a journalist for reuters international new agency. A multiple pen award winner, he is the author of the corpse exhibition, which won a number of awards, and the iraqi christ, which won the independent foreign fiction prize in 2014, making blasim the first arabic writer to win that award. Jul 12, 2017 the title story in the corpse exhibition, hassan blasims new book, masquerades as a lecture delivered to an initiate who has just joined a cult of assassins.
Iraqi literature suffers from a dire shortage of science fiction writing and i am close to certain that this book of short stories is the first of its kind, in theme. A blistering debut that does for the iraqi perspective on the wars in iraq and afghanistan what phil klays redeployment does for the american perspective a wonderful collection. May 22, 2014 blasims previous book the madman of freedom square was published as a censored version in arabic three years after its original english publication in 2009, but was still banned in jordan and. Hassan blasim is an iraqiborn author who writes in arabic. It chronicles the travails of a humble ambulance driver, kidnapped and forced to act in propaganda videos variously as an afghan jihadist, a sunni terrorist, a shiite martyr, a kurd, an infidel christian, a saudi terrorist, a syrian baathist intelligence agent and a. Hassan blasim becomes first arab writer to win independent foreign. The title story in the corpse exhibition, hassan blasims new book, masquerades as a lecture delivered to an initiate who has just joined a cult of assassins. He escaped from saddams dictatorship in 2000 by walking to iran and smuggling himself into europe. Born in baghdad in 1973, he spent most of his childhood in kirkuk, before moving back to. It was longlisted for the independent foreign fiction prize in 2010. His first major literary translation was taxi by khaled. Hassan blasim born 1973 is an iraqiborn film director and writer.
Awardwinning iraqi author hassan blasim reads his short story the corpse exhibition both arabic and english, a story set in the aftermath of the 2003 usbritish invasion of iraq. Winner of the 2014 independent foreign fiction prize for the iraqi christ. My first book, reading the world or the world between two covers, as it is known in the us, was published in 2015. In 2004, a year into the war, he fled to finland, where he now lives. Arab world, mostly as a journalist with the international news agency reuters. Jun 06, 20 awardwinning iraqi author hassan blasim reads his short story the corpse exhibition both arabic and english, a story set in the aftermath of the 2003 usbritish invasion of iraq. He received wide praise for his stories in the west including the first ever independent foreign fiction prize granted to an arab author. The figure of the refugee in hassan blasims the reality. Hassan blasim born 1973 is an iraqiborn film director and writer who lives in finland. However, if a reader goes into this collection aware that blasims stories are not ohenry style where you get a clearcut, wrappedup, easytofollow narrative, then youll be in good shape. Hassan blasim is an iraqi writer currently based in finland. Hassan blasim winner of the 2014 independent foreign fiction prize for the iraqi christ.
Iraqi novelist defies arab critics finland al jazeera. A son of baghdad finds is at home drinking booze in seedy east helsinki. Buy the madman of freedom square by hassan blasim from amazons fiction books store. A heavily edited version of the book was published in arabic in 2012, and was immediately banned in many arab. It argues that blasims asylum seeker should be read as a powerful challenge to extant responses to the. His short story collection the madman of freedom square was long. Hassan blasims book received the uks foreign fiction prize but it has yet to be published in arabic. Hassan blasim, film maker, refugee, and author of the astounding shortstory collection the madman of freedom square, has a more precise formulation. He made four short films for the finnish broadcasting company yle. Hassan blasim is a poet, filmmaker and short story writer. The iraqi christ by hassan blasim and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. I preferred hassan blasims first collection, the madman of freedom square, and i found those stories a little more accessible to my reading tastes. Hassan blasim becomes first arab writer to win independent. I preferred hassan blasim s first collection, the madman of freedom square, and i found those stories a little more accessible to my reading tastes.
He is a citizen of finland blasim went to finland as a refugee in 2004 after getting in trouble when making the film the wounded camera in the kurdish area in northern iraq. However, if a reader goes into this collection aware that blasim s stories are not ohenry style where you get a clearcut, wrappedup, easytofollow narrative, then youll be in good shape. Culled from two preexisting british collections of short fiction written by hassan blasim, an iraqi filmmaker and writer who was granted asylum in finland in 2004, the book deserves to be read by americans not just for its perspective on the war but for its psychological depth, and for the deftness with which blasim interposes his flinty prose. During his visit to bozar blasim speaks about his life and work with annelies verbeke and reads extracts from his collection of short stories the corpse exhibition. A heavily edited version of the book was published in arabic in 2012, and was. A blistering debut that does for the iraqi perspective on the wars in iraq and afghanistan what phil klays redeployment does for the american perspective. Blasims second book, the iraqi christ, was published in english on 14 march by comma press.
Exiled iraqi is first arab winner of uks top prize for. Published in uk by comma press in 2009 from hostagevideo makers in baghdad, to human trafficking in the forests of serbia, institutionalised paranoia in the saddam years, to the nightmares of an exile trying to embrace a new life in amsterdam. The arabic edition of his first book, the madman of freedom square, was banned in jordan. Apr 01, 2010 hassan blasim is a writer, a poet, and an awardwinning filmmaker. Steven erikson announces walk in shadow on hold, karsa. Feb 14, 2018 during his visit to bozar blasim speaks about his life and work with annelies verbeke and reads extracts from his collection of short stories the corpse exhibition. This article considers hassan blasims short story, the reality and the record. Media in category hassan blasim the following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total. Apr 16, 2019 hassan blasim writes masterfully and makes frontiers disappear between people.
Hassan blasim is a poet, filmmaker and shortstory writer. The first major literary work about the iraq war from an iraqi perspective by an explosive new voice hailed as perhaps the best writer of arabic fiction alive the guardian the corpse exhibition shows us the war as we have never seen. The important thing is to observe at length, like someone contemplating committing suicide from a balcony. Born in baghdad in 1973, he spent most of his childhood in kirkuk, before moving back to baghdad to study at the citys academy of cinematic arts. Aug 03, 2009 the madman of freedom square, a first book, is a collection of eleven brief short stories by the writer and filmmaker hassan blasim, an iraqi by birth and now resident of finland. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Blasims previous book the madman of freedom square was published as a censored version in arabic three years after its original english publication in 2009, but was still banned in. Hassan blasim becomes first arab writer to win independent foreign fiction prize the iraqi christ, which presents iraq as a surrealist inferno, has yet to be published in its original arabic. Described by the guardian as perhaps the greatest writer of arabic fiction alive, hassan blasim is an iraqborn film director and writer. Blasim s stories present an uncompromising view of the wests relationship with iraq, spanning over.
The corpse exhibition is a rare work a collection of stories about the iraq war, but written from an iraqi perspective and by an iraqi author. A groundbreaking anthology of science fiction from iraq that will challenge your perception of what it means to be the other history is a hostage, but it will bite through the gag you tie around its mouth, bite through and still be heard. Hassan blasim author of the corpse exhibition and other. May 22, 2014 despite that fact, the book was banned in jordan, and whenever my publisher participated in a book fair in an arab country, the book was forbidden from being displayed. Fiction prize has been won by an arab writer, hassan blasim, for his. A heavily edited version of the book was finally published in arabic in 2012, and was. Salim, an iraqi refugee, takes on a new identity in london after fleeing persecution in baghdad. And other stories of iraq blasim, hassan, wright, jonathan on. Jun 06, 20 awardwinning iraqi author hassan blasim reads his story the reality and the record both arabic and english, a story set in the aftermath of the usbritish invasion of iraq in 2003. And other stories of iraq, by hassan blasim, is the most important book to come out of the iraq war. The figure of the refugee in hassan blasims the reality and.