Fadhil
Al-Azzawi is one of the leading experimental writers in the Arab
world. Born in 1940 in Kirkuk, Iraq, he has published seven
volumes of poetry, six novels, three books of criticism and memoir,
and several translations of German literary works. Al-Azzawi
participated in Iraq's avant-garde Sixties Generation, and his
early controversial work was critiqued and lauded with great enthusiasm.
In 1976, as the Baathist-controlled regime was tightening its
grip on power, Al-Azzawi left Iraq to earn a doctorate in communications
studies from Leipzig University. He has worked as a freelance
journalist and translator for Arab newspapers and cultural reviews.
He is currently a full-time writer living in Berlin.
