Kader Abdolah
Encyclopedia
Kader Abdolah is a Persian–Dutch
writer, poet and columnist. He has written books and many articles in Dutch and is known for using Persian literary items in his Dutch works. He regularly appears on Dutch TV channels as well.
Kader Abdollah is the pen name
of Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani (Persian
: حسین سجادی قائممقامی فراهانی).
– and later the Khomeini – regimes. He fled to the Netherlands as a political refugee in 1988. In 2006 he was writer in residence at Leiden University. Today he lives in Delft
, writing under a pseudonym composed of the names of two executed friends.
Het huis van de moskee (The House of the Mosque
) catapulted Abdolah onto the Dutch bestseller lists. It was voted second best Dutch novel ever in Holland. The English translation was released worldwide in January 2010.
Iranians in the Netherlands
Iranians in the Netherlands form one of the newer and larger populations of Iranians in Europe.-Terminology:Iranians/Persians in the Netherlands are sometimes referred to by hyphenated terms such as "Dutch-Iranians", "Iranian-Dutch", "Dutch-Persian", or "Persian-Dutch"...
writer, poet and columnist. He has written books and many articles in Dutch and is known for using Persian literary items in his Dutch works. He regularly appears on Dutch TV channels as well.
Kader Abdollah is the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani (Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
: حسین سجادی قائممقامی فراهانی).
Career
Kader Abdolah studied physics in Teheran. He joined the left-wing movement opposing the ShahMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
– and later the Khomeini – regimes. He fled to the Netherlands as a political refugee in 1988. In 2006 he was writer in residence at Leiden University. Today he lives in Delft
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, writing under a pseudonym composed of the names of two executed friends.
Het huis van de moskee (The House of the Mosque
The House of the Mosque
The House of the Mosque is a Dutch-language novel by Iranian writer Kader Abdolah, published in 2005. The book follows the life of an Iranian family during the regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi, through the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the installment of the Khomeini government, and ends after...
) catapulted Abdolah onto the Dutch bestseller lists. It was voted second best Dutch novel ever in Holland. The English translation was released worldwide in January 2010.
Books
- 1993 – De adelaars
- 1995 – De meisjes en de partizanen
- 1997 – De reis van de lege flessen
- 1998 – Mirza
- 2000 – Spijkerschrift (English trans.2006 "My Father's Notebook")
- 2001 – De koffer
- 2001 – Een tuin in zee
- 2002 – Kélilé en Demné
- 2002 – Sophia's droë vrugte
- 2003 – Portretten en een oude droom
- 2003 – Karavaan
- 2005 – Het huis van de moskee (The House of the Mosque)The House of the MosqueThe House of the Mosque is a Dutch-language novel by Iranian writer Kader Abdolah, published in 2005. The book follows the life of an Iranian family during the regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi, through the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the installment of the Khomeini government, and ends after...
- 2008 – De boodschapper en de Koran (Two volumes sold together: De boodschapper (The messenger) – about the life of the prophet Mohammed and Abdolah's Dutch translation of the Koran)
- 2011 – De koning
- 2011 – De kraai
Honours and awards
- Gouden Ezelsoor (Golden Donkey Ear) for the short story collection De adelaars – his best selling debut of 1993, received in 1994.
- E. du Perron Prize of 2000 for his novel Spijkerschrift.
- Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Dutch: Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw) in 2000.
- Knight in the French Order of Arts and Literature (French: Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
) in 2008. - Honorary doctor at the University of GroningenUniversity of GroningenThe University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
in 2009. - Invitation to write the 2011 Boekenweekgeschenk, a gift (De Kraai) to buyers of Dutch books during the BoekenweekBoekenweekIn the Netherlands, the Boekenweek is an annual "week" of ten days dedicated to Dutch literature. It is held in March since 1932. Each Boekenweek has a theme. The beginning of the Boekenweek is marked by the Boekenbal , a gathering that is attended by writers and publishers...
.