Shahrazad - Stories for life

Musa Mutaev, former ICORN Guest Writer in Trondheim from 2004-2007, has published a Norwegian version of his novel, called in English Medal of Honour.  The book is available from Communicatio and was translated from the Russian by Alf B. Glad. The novel has already received critical acclaim in the Norwegian media.

 Medal of Honour recounts the horror of Russia's attempt to ethnically cleanse Chechnya during World War II. Josef Stalin, afraid that they might collaborate with Germany, deported thousands of Chechens in 1944 to the steppes of Kazakhstan. The first villagers were able to return only in 1957 after over a decade of hardships and tragedy. Medal of Honour follows one village's journey, from deportation to an eventual return to their homeland.

 Mutaev himself experienced deportation. Born in Kyrgyzkstan, his family was forced to move to Chechnya when he was one year old.

For information on how to order this book, please click here. 

Easterine Kire Iralu, ICORN's Guest Writer in Tromsø from 2005-2007, has been very prolific during her time in Norway, publishing several volumes of poetry and handful of novels. Easterine's latest English language book, Bitter Wormwood, published by Zubaan Books, reveals the struggles for independence that her homeland, that of the Naga people, has experienced over the last 70 years. Iralu unfolds the history through events in one man's life. 

Nagaland, an Indian state in the extreme northeastern corner of the country, endured brutal occupation by both the British colonialists and Burma in the 20th century.  Born into a tradition-bound, tribal way of life, the novel's protagonist, Mose, will live to see the permanent changes that the modern world imparts upon his quiet homeland.

For more information and to order a copy, please click here.

Chenjerai Hove is a Zimbabwean author, poet, essayist, playwright, and human rights activist. He was Stavanger City of Refuge's Guest Writer from 2005-2007 and Miami's from 2010-2011. In his homeland, Hove was editor of the Zimbabwe Publishing House as well as President of Zimbabwe PEN from 1990-2007. He was also a founding member of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association and on its board of directors. A vocal critic of the regime of Robert Mugabe, Hove was forced to flee Zimbabwe in 2001 and has lived in exile ever since. He is the author of several noteworthy and prize-winning works of fiction, poetry, and essays including the novels Shadows and Bones, which won the Zimbabwe Literary Award and the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. In January 2010, Hove was invited by the Center for Literature and Theater at Miami Dade College to participate in the Miami: City of Refuge writer-in-residence project, part of an international network offering displaced writers a place to live and work in freedom. Homeless Sweet Home: A Memoir of Miami (B&B Press) is a compilation of Hove's essays, poems, and plays written over the course of his nearly two years living and writing in Miami. The book includes pieces reflecting on life and culture in both Miami and Zimbabwe.