June 12, 2021 – 100 days to offload countdown #91

I don’t read the books the arts and leisure sections of newspapers discuss. When I do, it seldom is the promised delight. In SAIDs case I regret that. I learned about him and his story because he is regarded as such a great that our local newspaper printed a eulogy to honor him and his work – I got curious. The first poems I read were astounding. I struggle writing in my first language, I struggle writing in english – SAIDs work in german shows masterhood in every syllable, conveying meaning, thoughts, emotions with a beauty that is remarkable – and having something to say doing so.

May 15th this year SAID passed away at the age of 73. A german writer, he was born Said Mirhadi in Teheran, Persia in 1947. In the 1960s he studied politics in Munich. When the last Shah was overthrown by the revolution, SAID briefly returned to then Iran in 1979 but quickly found out that the way the country was going, wasn’t what he hoped for. He went back to Germany. He became (or was) a writer, he wrote prose and poetry. And he wrote in german. His main themes were love, living in exile and, as far as I have read, being an individual in a (big) city. He became a german citizen eventually.

I highly recommend reading some of his work to anyone with an interest in literature knowing german.