Najiba Ahmad

Najiba Ahmad (born 1954) (Kurdish:نه‌جیبە ئه‌حمه‌د, Necîbe Ehmed; pronounced ) is a contemporary Kurdish writer, poet, and translator.

Life and career

Ahmad was born in the northern city of Kirkuk in 1954. She studied Kurdish language and literature at the University of Sulaimaniya and worked as a teacher for many years before joining the Kurdish liberation movement. When she began writing poetry, she was the only female Kurdish literary figure.

Along with a handful of female Kurdish poets and writers, including Kajal Ahmad (b. 1967) and Mahabad Qadragi (b. 1966), she is regarded as making a significant contribution to the development of Kurdish literature.

Work

She has published three volumes of her short stories and of her poetry and her work is also included in anthologies such as An Anthology of Modern Kurdish Literature She has also translated poetry from Arabic and Persian to Kurdish and written literary articles, novels, short stories, drama, and literary works for children.

Selected publications Spring Weeping, Tabriz, Iran, 1994. Rasan (short stories) Tabriz, Iran, 1994. History of the Apple-tree, Hawler, Iraqi Kurdistan, 1998. The Butterflies of Death (short stories), Hawler, Iraqi Kurdistan 1998. A Deer Created of Water, Hawler, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2005 Resurrection of Pear Buds, Hawler, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2005