
Kurdish Literature and Henar Press
From Three Percent Podcast by Open Letter Books
April 28, 2026 · 1h 18m
About this episode
Aryan Omar Hassan discusses Henar Press and Kurdish literature, including notable publications and the impact of cultural suppression.
On this episode, special guest Aryan Omar Hassan talks about Henar Press and their first publications: Gābor by Seyed Qader Hedayati, translated from the Kurdish by Chiya Parvizpur & Hourieh Maleki Qouzloo; I Am Going to Kill Somebody by Firat Ceweri, translated from the Kurdish by Jeannette Okur; and Who’s Afraid of Kurdistan?: An Anthology of Contemporary Plays , edited by Aryan himself. He also discusses the Kurdish Literary Database he built and maintains, along with discussing the element of suppression (of language, of the people) in Kurdish literature and some other common tropes, and makes a number of recommendations. This episode’s music is “Damascus” by Gorillaz. You can subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast at Apple , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review ( Apple , Spotify ) and Mining the Dalkey Archive ( Apple , Spotify ) for more book and industry talk! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threepercentproblem.substack.com
People in this episode
Host: Three Percent Podcast
Guest: Aryan Omar Hassan
Topics covered
- Kurdish literature
- Henar Press
- literary translation
- cultural suppression
- Kurdish Literary Database
- contemporary plays
Keywords
- Kurdish literature
- Henar Press
- literary translation
- cultural suppression
- Kurdish Literary Database
- Gābor
- I Am Going to Kill Somebody
- Who's Afraid of Kurdistan
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Henar Press, Kurdish Literary Database
Books & works: Gābor, I Am Going to Kill Somebody, Who’s Afraid of Kurdistan?: An Anthology of Contemporary Plays, Damascus
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