Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future State by Orsola Casagrande, Mustafa Gündoğdu

Throughout the twentieth century (and so far in the twenty-first), the Kurds have been betrayed, suppressed, stripped of their basic rights (from citizenship to the freedom to speak their own language) and had their political aspirations crushed at every turn.

In this groundbreaking anthology, Kurdish authors (including several former political prisoners, and one currently serving a 183-year sentence for his views) imagine a freer future, one in which it is no longer effectively illegal to be a Kurd. From future eco-activism, to drone warfare, to the resuscitation of victims of past massacres, these stories explore different sides of the present struggle through the metaphor of futurism to dazzling effect.

Orsola Casagrande is a Venetian journalist, film-maker and curator. She worked for 25 years for the Italian daily newspaper il manifesto, and is co-editor of the web magazine Global Rights. Currently based in the Basque country, Orsola writes regularly on Kurdish, Turkish and Basque politics and culture for the Basque daily paper Berria, among others. She has translated numerous books, as well as written her own.

Mustafa Gündoğdu was born in the city of Dersim, and is currently based in London. He has worked as a coordinator for various human rights and conflict resolution NGOs over 20 years, where his roles included in-house translator (working on over 100 books and articles).