KURDISTAN: In Kurdish Society, Female Authors Face Uphill Battle

Female authors and books on women's issues have a hard time finding publishers and buyers in the Kurdistan Region, writers and publishers complain.

“Even if you have a very important book ready, a book that tackles an important women's issue, when you try to get permission to publish you run into a load of difficulties,” says Fawzi Manmi, whose book is currently on bookstands.

Booksellers in Sulaimani city say that they allocate large shelf space to books written by women.

Muhammed Kurdo, director of the Sulaimani Publishing House, says his firm places a lot of emphasis on helping female authors get published.

In Kurdistan -- like in many Eastern societies -- having female names on book covers does not have a long history.

Nevertheless, Nawal Saadawi's books in Egypt shook society. Turkey and Iran have also produced renowned female writers. However, in Kurdish society women authors did not appear until after the 1991 uprising, Sone women consider that as a “Revolution of Awareness” for Kurdish women.

According to data from the Sulaimani Public Library, last year 95 books were published by 85 women authors. In 1995, only three percent of the books published were by women.

Diyar Hassan, owner of the Hawlati Bookstore in Sulaimani, does not view 95 books as a large number. “We can still say we are in a patriarchal society,” Hassan says. “Our female authors are way less in numbers compared to male authors.”

Moreover, Sameera Muhammed, who says she writes in order to raise awareness among women, says, “women authors are more into writing in the social and literary fields.” She adds that society has influenced women authors and forced them away from certain topics. “Few women have written about sports, economics, and politics,” Muhammed says.

Kurdo says good books will not face difficulties in acquiring permits and getting published.

However, among two good books, “if one was written by a man and the other by a woman, the latter will be given more attention,” he confessed.