STOCKHOLM, Sweden—With over 4,000 Kurdish books printed in Sweden over the past three decades, the Nordic country can easily claim to have been an exceptional promoter of Kurdish culture, according to several writers living in the country. But perhaps what gives Sweden its special position in the history of Kurdish publication is the period in which the vast number of these writings were printed. Translator Rizgar Shexani says a variety of the Kurdish books and periodicals were published in the 1980s -90s when there were limited political space in the Middle East for the publication of similar books. “In the ‘80s when the Baath was still in power in Iraq, fewer than 10 books a year received publishing license,” said Shexani who has lived in Sweden since late 1980s. “While during the same time we had a thriving Kurdish printing in Sweden with books and periodicals that dealt with critical literary and political issues,” he added. The conditions for Kurdish publications were even more restricted in Turkey and Syria where writing in Kurdish was often punishable by prison sentence as in the case of the renowned novelist Memet Uzun who faced multiple court cases for his Kurdish authorship in Turkey. Iran allowed limited publication of Kurdish books but with severe government censorship that has continued to present day. “Between 1923 and 1975 roughly 30 Kurdish books were published in Turkey,” said Kurdo Baksi, a celebrated Kurdish-Swedish writer. “While between 1975 and 2015 no fewer than 4,000 Kurdish books and journals were published in Sweden which also contained almost all Kurdish dialects,” he added. Apart from Germany with its sizable Kurdish community, Sweden is home to the largest Kurdish diaspora population outside the Middle East. With over 100,000 Kurds living in the country, Sweden’s Kurds have been able to establish themselves both politically and in the labor market. Five Kurdish lawmakers are currently serving in the Swedish Riksdag and dozens of others have high positions in the municipalities across the country. The Kurdish library in Stockholm, which is open for visitors, has rich archives of hundreds of publications that were printed in Sweden through the years. Moreover, teaching Kurdish language as the mother tongue in schools has been a key promoter of the language among second and third generation Kurdish migrants. “But unfortunately the publication in Kurdish has plummeted over the past years, largely because of the digital age and the vast printing possibilities in the Kurdistan region,” Shexani said. “There are no market for Kurdish books in Sweden currently and that has had a tremendous impact,” he added. Baksi says that the trend has shifted with Kurdish authors now writing in Swedish for a relatively larger readership. “We have people like Mustafa Can, Dilshad Demirtas and Arkan Asaad who all are Kurds and have written in Swedish since early 2000,” Baksi said.
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