Baban Kirkuki

Kirkuk, 1974) is an Iraqi-Dutch poet and writer. In 1999 he fled Iraqi Kurdistan because he refused to write propaganda poems for Saddam Hussein's regime. He now lives in Utrecht. He debuted in the Netherlands in 2006 with Op weg naar Ararat (En Route to Ararat), 29 poems about Kurdistan, war and fear, but also about mountains, winter and the desert. His second poetry volume, Lontananza (2009), focuses on his yearning for his native land and for a place in his new homeland. His two identities also feature prominently in his two following collections, Territorium (2011) and Licht onbekend (2013).