Two special events in March featuring Kurdish author Bakhtiyar Ali

Bakhtiyar Ali’s epic novel I Stared at the Night of the City is the first major work of contemporary Kurdish literature to be translated into English. It is a masterful allegory of modern Iraqi Kurdistan, where everything, even the imagination itself, is bought, sold and controlled by a secretive elite – a state of affairs resisted only by a motley band of friends with uncanny abilities. A best-seller in Kurdistan, this astonishing novel is a potent critique of authoritarianism and corruption, as well as a paean to the power of love, friendship and the imagination.

Periscope is proud to welcome Bakhtiyar on a rare visit to London, and will be co-hosting two events:

1.       Sunday 12 March at the stately Burgh House in Hampstead, 18.30 – 20.30. Come hear Bakhtiyar in discussion with his translator, Kareem Abdulrahman, and raise a glass to both of them at a reception to follow. Presented in association with Kurdish Culture Project.

2.       Monday 13 March at the Free Word Centre in Farringdon, 18.45 – 21.00. As part of the Free Word Centre’s ongoing ‘Wanderlust’ series, Bakhtiyar will be in conversation with Alexandra Büchler of Literature Across Frontiers, Kareem Abdulrahman and playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak (Baghdad Wedding).