Table of Contents

Foreword xiii
Maps xvi
Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xix
Introduction xxi
1 The First Stage of Imprisonment 3
A Bitter Evening 3
A Deathly Quiet Cell 14
Hope Fading 24
A Hill of Blankets 31
Some Shocking News 40
Prison Number Five 46
Secret Funeral 49
2 Early Childhood in the Age of the Village 51
Unknown Birthday 51
A Fire in the Village 55
The Mystery Solved 63
Half of Ashkaftsaqa Dancing 65
Leaving Ashkaftsaqa 67
Our First Days in the City 73
Resuming School 76
An Unlikely Continuation of My Story 78
3 A City Boy 81
My Sun Rising Above the Citadel 81
An Overplayed Ball 86
Perhaps, Peace at Last 90
The Illusion Ends 93
A Teacher’s Life 100
4 A World of Words 105
The Lure of Reading 105
A Return to the Library 110
My First Publication 112
Writing in an Atmosphere of Fear 118
One Bright Moment 122
5 Life in Prison 127
My First Visitor 127
A Shared Home 135
Your Words Bring You Home to Me 138
A Poet Misses His Father 140
The Worst Deprivation 142
Nature’s Ways 144
Ghareeb’s Disappearance 145
The Third Visit 146
Health Issues 148
Cancelling the Visit 150
6 Fear in a Different Form 153
The Release 153
Fear Didn’t Leave Me Alone 160
An Anfal Story 162
Rapareen, or the Uprising 167
A Twist of Fate 171
Returning Home 177
7 Searching for a New Beginning 181
Crossing Borders 181
Ankara 1997 190
Seeking Asylum 197
Exile in Sivas 204
8 Another Attempt at Starting Over 213
Flying to a New Home 213
Losing My Luggage 216
Our Final Destination 220
A Death in Exile 226
Somewhere In-between 230
Justice at Last 238
Chronology 241
Glossary 245
Index 249

About the Author

Professor of English Dr. Salih received his doctoral degree in English from Southern Illinois University in 1989 where he focused on Modern British Literature with a dissertation titled Bernard Shaw in America. His also has a concentration in Literary Criticism and Composition. His Masters of Arts in English is also from Southern Illinois University and his Bachelors of Arts Degree is from the University of Bagdad.

Reviews

#4 on the "Edmonton Journal" Best Seller list for the week of October 02, 2011.

#5 on the "Edmonton Journal" Best Seller list for the week ending November 20, 2011.

"The author was named the City's first PEN Writer-In-Exile when he arrived in Edmonton because his memoir arises above the level of personal history to a saga of Kurdish history under Saddam Hussein's tyranny." Anne Burke, The Prairie Journal

"When the author became convinced that his family and he had no future in Iraq, he decided to flee to 'freedom', regardless of difficulties involved. He writes vividly about the human smuggling industry in Turkey, Greece, and many other European countries, fed by Afghans, Iraqis, Pakistanis, and many other people from all over the world. His valiant efforts started in 1988 and ended in 1999 when he managed to obtain an immigration visa for Canada through the UN refugee programme.... It is a heart breaking, well-documented and well-written story that compels the reader to continue reading..., turning page after page." Hrayr Berberoglu, Kurdish Globe, June 4, 2012 [Full article at bit.ly/NAJqzz]

"Peter Midgley's edit of Jalal Barzanji's The Man in Blue Pajamas has helped create a book that tells an important and accessible story. In his work, Peter considered both the author's and the reader's needs. His consultative approach with the author sought to clarify and elaborate a work complicated by the fragility of memory and translation. The edit resolved complex language issues and delivered compelling detail, aware of the 'challenge not simply to rewrite, but to...allow the author to do the work.' The result is an excellent read, with a glossary and timeline that provide valuable guides and context for readers. Jury comments, Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence, WGA.

"[Barzanji conjures a] haunting impression of the uncertainties of Kurdish life under Saddam Hussein... The grim account of prison life that follows is replete with novelistic details. There is some inevitable squalor and brutality, but also unexpected humanity. Raconteurs in the overcrowded cells distract others with droll stories... What sets Barzanji's story above mere reportage is his poet's eye for detail. His recollections of childhood in Kurdistan are as absorbing as anything that takes place within the prison... Appropriately, the most memorable image in the whole book is the conversion of the local library into the prison that will eventually house Barzanji." Brendan de Caires, Freedom to Read Magazine 2012

"This well-written memoir is put together like a novel, with the events ordered to create a simulacrum of memory as well as to build tension and introduce foreshadowing. Not only do we receive an accurate picture of Jalal Barzanji's life story but, also, in seeing into the lives of his contemporary Kurds, we understand the force of his epiphany that his own story is necessarily part of a larger narrative." Gillian Harding-Russell, Prairie Fire Review of Books, 12.3

"Jalal Barzanji, a Kurd from Iraq, endured imprisonment, torture, and exile, in order to share his life experiences through the usage of words. This is not a chronological story from beginning to end, but rather has a storytelling aspect that skips around to different memories that he has about his own life, and from others who have told him their memories and stories." Angela Green, University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries 2012, Outstanding Title

"Barzanji's memoir is a survivor's story conveyed in direct, laconic, and decisive prose. The prison ordeal he recounts could crush the mightiest of souls. Yet Barzanji forbears bitterness; his world encompasses "peace, love, and beauty." Amy O'Loughlin, ForeWord Reviews, March 26, 2013

"The Man in Blue Pyjamas is a noteworthy accomplishment. Barzanji has created a poignant memoir brimming with authenticity and many readers, despite nationality, will find in him a kindred spirit. His openness and compassion make him an endearing figure - a tender man who wants nothing more than to embrace the world and memorialise it with words. His story serves as a chilling reminder of the dangers many writers still face simply by putting pen to paper." Logan Mickel, Translational Literature, May 2012 [Full review at http://bit.ly/IdcAXA]

"Taking us to a place that many refuse to accept exists, Barzanji reveals what it means to be forced to weigh freedom, self-expression and survival against belonging, duty and the law. Seen from the final page, the story in pieces transforms itself into a beautiful and beguiling whole. A humbling read." Ann Morgan, December 2012, http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/2012/12/29/rest-of-the-world-revealed