Salim Barakat

Salim Barakat is a Kurdish-Syrian novelist and poet born in Qamishli, Syria, in 1951. A prolific writer, Barakat has published numerous novels, poetry collections, autobiographies, and children’s books. Some of these include معركة في توقيت الماء (approximately translated “A Battle in the Water Time Zone”; Sanad Books, 2023), مباهج الانتحار الإحدى عشرة، وقياس المراوغات في أحوال جلال الدين الرومي (approximately translated “The Eleven Delights of Suicide and the Measure of Deceits in the Spiritual States of Jalaluddin Rumi”; Arab Institute for Publishing and Research, 2023), and سيرة الوجود وموجز تاريخ القيامة (approximately translated “A Biography of Existence and a Brief History of Resurrection”; Arab Institute for Publishing and Research, 2018). 

Barakat studied Arabic in Damascus before moving to Beirut in 1972, where he published five collections of poetry, two novels, and two volumes of autobiography. 

In 1982, he moved to Cyprus to work as an editor on the Palestinian literary journal Al-Karmel under chief editor Mahmoud Darwish. While there, he published seven more novels and five more poetry collections. 

In 1999, Barakat moved to Sweden, where he now resides. His work explores the various cultures present in northern Syria, including Arab, Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, and others.