The Man in Blue Pyjamas

In his far too lightweight blue pyjamas, Jalal Barzanji was ripped out of his family and shoved into a nightmare underworld of beatings and raw prisons. Three times over the years since then he has had to rebuild his life.. The Man in Blue Pyjamas is a generous creative act, for which I thank him. -John Ralston Saul, President of PEN International From 1986-1989, Jalal Barzanji endured imprisonment and torture in an Iraqi prison because of his literary and journalistic activity. It was not until 1998, when he and his family took refuge in Canada, that he was able to consider speaking out fully on issues of peace, justice, and freedom. Ever an acute observer, Barzanji offers readers detailed portraits of life in the ancient Kurdish city of Hawler; in prison, he grounds readers with his ability to find moments of compassion and humanity amidst the relentless assault of Saddam Hussein's regime. In 2007, Barzanji was appointed as Edmonton's first PEN Canada Writer-in-Exile. This poignant literary memoir is the product of that residency. The Man in Blue Pyjamas is his first work in English. Jalal Barzanji is a highly respected Kurdish poet and journalist. Since 1970 he has published seven books of poetry and numerous critical columns. After his three-year imprisonment by Saddam Hussein's regime in the late 1980s and further political repression into the 1990s, Barzanji and his family fled to Turkey. They remained there for eleven months, eventually immigrating to Canada.