Basim Mardan

Basim Mardan is a writer, playwright and translator from Iraq. He holds a bachelor degree in Arabic into English, English into Arabic Translation and Linguistics. In Iraq, he worked as an interpreter for the joint civil authority in Mosul, he published a book of poetry and wrote several articles for local newspapers, along with his involvement with civil society NGOs as a translator/editor and consultant, to promote democracy and human rights in Iraq.

Basim Mardan was ICORN writer in residence in Skien, Norway 2006-2008, where he stayed until July 2016, when he joined PEN International as Writers at Risk Protection Officer in London.

During his ICORN residency in Norway, Basim Mardan published his poems and short stories in English and Norwegian alongside his constant participation in literary events and festivals. He has also cooperated as a translator with several ICORN writers and worked as a freelance translator/consultant for ICORN since 2009.

Born in Mosul, Iraq in 1976, Basim A. Mardan studied Translation and Linguistics in the University of Mosul and graduated a licensed Translator in 1999. He started writing poetry and published his first book of poetry while he was still a college student. Mr. Mardan was prosecuted and forced to burn all the copies of his book in order to get back to his studies, but later republished his book in 2003 after the fall of the regime in Iraq.

July 2016, Mardan started working as a researcher and Writers at Risk Protection Officer for PEN International in London. 

Basim's story can be found in the Winter 2006 Newsletter and on the American PEN website. 

Read also his testimony on persecution and ICORN residency.