Hussein Al-Dahir

Hussein Al-Dahir is a poet, writer, and journalist from Syria who holds a diploma in journalistic writing from Gedik University in Istanbul. The main themes of Al-Dahir’s work are the tragedy of Syria’s civil conflict, as well as issues of identity, exile, and migration.

Al-Dahir’s debut poetry collection Water Fit for Killing was published in 2020 in Istanbul and his second book Scenes Recounted by the Bedouin came out a year later, in August 2021. Several of articles about and interviews with Al-Dahir have been published in Arabic literary journals and media outlets.

In 2018, Al-Dahir received the Abu Alaa Al-Ma’ari Literary Arts Prize awarded by the Masarat Research Centre in Turkey. In 2021, he was awarded third place in a literary competition run by the Syrian Writers’ Association in partnership with Dar Mosaic Publishing House.

In addition to with literary work, Al-Dahir has contributed to pan-Arab online platforms, such as Ultrasawt, Raseef22, Syria TV, and Orient News, commenting and analysing cultural and political issues, with focus on Syrian refugees and migrants. Between 2012 and 2013, while still in Syria, Al-Dahir worked for opposition newspapers and throughout 2020, he worked for a Syrian-American NGO monitoring and reporting on war crimes and human rights violations in Syria and the Middle East. In addition, Al-Dahir was engaged in community activity through the NGO CARE International.

Due to his work for opposition newspapers and his participation in anti-government protests in 2011, Al-Dahir faced threats, harassment, and detention by a variety of parties in his hometown of Manbij, northeast of Aleppo. Al-Dahir and his family left Syria for Turkey three days before Manbij fell to ISIS control in January 2014. He continued working in Turkey where he also faced threats and harassment.

In June 2024, Al-Dahir took up the first ICORN residency in Færder, Norway where he now lives with his family. He continues his literary work from exile. In August 2024, Al-Dahir was awarded the Creative and Critical Writings Grant by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.