The Man in Blue Pyjamas: A Prison Memoir

From 1986–1989 poet and journalist Jalal Barzanji endured imprisonment and torture under Saddam Hussein’s regime because of his literary and journalistic achievements — writing that openly explores themes of peace, democracy, and freedom. It was not until 1998, when he and his family took refuge in Canada, that he was able to consider speaking out fully on these topics. This literary memoir is the project Barzanji worked on while in exile, and it is the first translation of his work from Kurdish into English.