Dilawar Karadaghi

Dilawar Karadaghi (دلاوەر قەرەداغی) is a Kurdish poet, translator, essayist, playwright and theatre director. Born in the city of Slemani, in southern Kurdistan, in 1963, he graduated in drama at the Baghdad University College of Fine Arts in 1986 He started writing poetry in 1982 when he was 19 years old. After the Iraq-Iran war he went into exile in Iran for two years, then moved to Sweden in 1999.

Karadaghi is one of the most important contemporary Kurdish poets, having published 10 collections of poems. He has been nominated for major poetry awards, including being shortlisted for the 2020 American Pushcart Prize. His poetry was translated into Arabic and published in Syria in 2000, receiving a great deal of attention in the Arabic-speaking world. His work has been translated into English, French, Swedish, Arabic, Persian and Spanish and readings of his poetry have been held in Kurdistan, the UK, Sweden and Iran.