Head of Kurdish Library in Sweden pursues early love of books and mother tongue

By Ann-Catrin Emanuelsson

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A visit to his cousin’s library in Dohuk as a boy awakened Newzad Hirori’s fascination for the written word. The compulsory shift from Kurdish to Arabic in fifth grade established his interest in his mother tongue. Today, he leads the Kurdish Library in Sweden. 

It is still morning and quiet at the library, which is situated in the Alvik suburb of Stockholm. In a few hours, people interested in a presentation of reprinted works by Mehdi Zana -- a Kurdish activist, writer and dissident who spent more than 15 years in Turkish jails for his political activities -- will gather.

”I want the library to be a forum where people come to exchange ideas, listen to lectures and presentations,” Hirori says. “It is important to have a space where people get to know what happens in their larger society and where to meet up with fellow citizens concerned about Kurdish culture,” he adds as he rearranges some chairs to prepare the venue.

Fifteen years ago, for the first time, he entered the Kurdish Library, an initiative of the late Nedim Dagdeviren, who founded the Kurdish Institute in Stockholm. Just finishing his studies in linguistics at Stockholm university, Hirori still remembers how passionate he was about collecting bits and pieces of Kurdish texts and how countless ideas of how to develop the library’s collection of books crossed his mind.

An early interest in computers made him even spend every spare moment cataloging literature, articles and periodicals. Still, he manages most of the  administrative and practical work himself: sitting behind a large wooden desk is not his style.

”It was necessary to create a safe place in exile for preserving the Kurdish language and literature from censorship and decay. In Turkey, you risked punishment even by whispering words in Kurdish. Today, the situation has changed dramatically for the better, but still we need this library as a cornerstone of freedom of speech against backlashes of democratization,” he explains.

Freedom of speech is also about what issues you dare to bring into daylight, he adds, citing social relations and sexual behavior as subjects perhaps still hidden in symbolism and surrealistic poetry. 

Hirori is convinced that Sweden’s reputation for openness makes it an ideal place for supporting such continuous efforts. Early on, many Kurdish intellectuals found refuge in Sweden, which is one of the most generous countries in terms of providing funding for minority languages, publications and organizations.

”The Kurdish Library is part of the national system of thousands of libraries regarding cataloging, opening hours and borrowing service free of charge for the public. The National Library has been collecting everything printed in Sweden or in Swedish since 1661,” Hirori says.

Still, there is more to be desired. Digitization is only progressing slowly, which worries Hirori, since this hampers increased availability of the library’s collection. To reach out to Kurds and others around the world -- not least the second and third generation in the diaspora -- is part of the globalization of freedom of speech.

”Basically, our problems have to do with decreased funding from the Swedish Arts Council due to the financial crisis. Thanks to the Kurdistan Regional Government we survive on grants received in 2012,” Hirori says.  

Willing to work hard, together with the library’s board members, he recently appealed for funding from “culture Peshmergas” worldwide.

Although he believes in the Peshmergas’ ability to secure Kurdistan and remains positive about the political and economic development in the long run, hostilities towards minorities by the Islamic State (ISIS) need to be tackled from all fronts, he notes.

”My interest in Kurdish language and literature is no vagary. My cousin’s library in Dohuk may not be restored. For security reasons, the books were distributed a long time ago when my cousin joined the Peshmerga to fight the Saddam Hussein regime. But this time we are better prepared to stand united.”

In his free time too, Hirori is committed to the restoration of the Kurdish language. Terminology and standardization are focal points of concern in the group of scholars he belongs to, once set up by the Kurdish Paris Institute. Recently, they all gathered in linguistic seminars in Diyarbakir, and next time they might meet in Stockholm.

Contacts with libraries in Turkey, however, are in the early stages because there are no Kurdish libraries in that country. Hirori hopes for networking possibilities in the future, as he has done with libraries in the Kurdistan Region.