Kurdish Literature

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Poet

Ahmedê Xanî

1651 – 1707

A Kurdish poet, thinker and jurist, born in 1651 in Bohtan. He completed his immortal epic "Mem û Zîn" in 1692 — at once a hymn to Kurdish l...

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Poet

Cegerxwîn

1903 – 1984

The greatest Kurdish national poet of the 20th century. Born Şêxmûs Hesen in 1903 near Mardin, he emigrated to Syria and was among the pione...

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Poet

Melayê Cizîrî

c. 1570 – c. 1640

The greatest Kurdish Sufi poet, who lived in Cizîr (Cizre) of Bohtan in the 17th century. His classical Kurmanji *Diwan* weaves divine and h...

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Poet

Sherko Bekas

1940 – 2013

The foremost Sorani Kurdish poet of the 20th century, born in Sulaymaniyah in 1940. He pioneered Kurdish free verse and wrote epics and hymn...