Navid Kermani | |
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Born | Siegen, West Germany | 27 November 1967
Occupation | Novelist, essayist |
Navid Kermani (German: [naˈviːd kɛʁˈmaːni]; Persian: نوید کرمانی; [næˈviːd keɾmɒːˈniː]; born 27 November 1967 in Siegen, Germany) is a German writer and orientalist.[1] He is the author of several novels as well as books and essays on Islam, the Middle East and Christian-Muslim dialogue.[2][3] He has won numerous prizes for his literary and academic work, including the Peace Prize of the German Publishers' Association on 18 June 2015.[4]
Navid Kermani was born the fourth son of Iranian parents in Siegen, West Germany. He began his writing career at age 15 as a local reporter for the Westfälische Rundschau.[5] As a student he published in German national newspapers; from 1996 to 2000 he was a regular contributor to the cultural section of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He studied philosophy, Oriental studies and drama in Cologne, Cairo and Bonn. His doctoral thesis has been published in English translation as God Is Beautiful: The Aesthetic Experience of the Quran.[6]
He regularly publishes articles, literary reviews and travelogues, especially in Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Der Spiegel.
In the preface of his book Between Quran and Kafka: West-Eastern Affinities he acknowledges that he is an Orientalist and his world view has been shaped by his childhood interactions living in a German society.[7]