Hamed Abboud
- Syrian Arab Republic -
Hamed Abboud born 1987 in Deir al-Zor in Syria; while living in Aleppo he studied Telecommunications Science. He spent his childhood partly in Algeria until civil war forced his familiy to move back to Syria. At the end of 2012 Hamed Abboud fled from his home country and made his way via Egypt, Dubai and Turkey to Austria, where he arrived by the end of 2014. In Syria and in the Middle East he has been publishing in newspapers and magazines since 2005; in 2012 his first volume of poetry was re- leased: Der Regen der ersten Wolke / The first cloud’s rain (Verlag Arwad Publishers International Inc.).
In 2017 the Swiss publishing house pudelundpischer edited a wonderful bilingual sample of texts in Arabian (translated by Larissa Bender) and German: Der Tod backt einen Geburtstagskuchen / Death is baking a birthdaycake, followed by the children’s book Der Ritter der Schlüssel / Knight of the keys (translation by Kerstin Wilsch, Baobab Verlag 2018); the Austrian publishing house Edition Korre- spondenzen 2020 released In meinem Bart versteckte Geschichten / Stories hidden in my beard (translated by Larissa Bender and Kerstin Wilsch).
Hamed Abboud currently lives in Vienna.
Death (…) baking a birthday cake might be a good introduction into irritation – at least at first glance. There are several reasons, though, why death is enjoying himself in this world, why death is able to show his huge harvest every day.
„Death found a lot of new friends. He has to celebrate – and that’s why he is baking a birthday cake“, states Hamed Abboud. This outstanding writer and poet is far from being cynical. But he made his experiences – that kind no one should be confronted with.
Born 1987 in Deir al-Zor in Syria, he studied Telecommunications Science while living in Aleppo. Meanwhile, his hometown is destroyed, bombed down to ruins, friends and colleagues are dead. Hamed Abboud spent his childhood partly in Algeria until civil war forced his familiy to move back to Syria. At the end of 2012 Hamed Abboud fled his home country and made his way via Egypt, Dubai and Turkey to Austria by the end of 2014, together with his brother.
Lucky for Austria – not only for the writer’s community but also for a lot of people who came to Austria from Arabian speaking countries – Hamed Abboud is offering a helping hand. His skills in German are so fine developed that he is able to teach.
Need an example? Well then:
Ich weiß
wie jeder fleißige Dichter, dass ich ins Paradies kommen werde
nach einer kurzen langweiligen Anerkennung
Sie werden auf meinen Grabstein schreiben:
In seinen letzten Augenblicken
beschimpfte er jene, die vorbeigekommen waren
und jene, die nicht vorbeigekommen waren
in astreinem Deutsch
like any
hard-working poet I know I will go to paradise
after a brief and boring appreciation
on my tombstone will be written:
in his last moments
he insulted those who came to visit
and those who did not visit
in straight German
This not only shows Hamed Abboud’s brilliant German but also his overwhelming sense of humor. In an interview he states: „Either you get depressed or you start laughing about reality.“ What an attitude after this long and stony road – when no one is going to guarantee a warm welcome in the country you finally arrived in.
And once again, lucky for Austria: By a hair’s breadth Hamed Abboud would have stayed in Switzerland but then opted for Austria’s southeast, settling down in Burgenland (the federal state next to the Hungarian border) for the start. Altough meanwhile living in Vienna, Hamed Abboud still feels closely connected to the parish of Oberschützen: „I am Burgenländer. Oberschützen is my second home.“ He made friends, he knows his neighbors and they know him. In 2020 he states: „After corona I wanted lo leave Vienna, my retreat is Burgenland as I can’t go to Syria. And so the idea emerged to walk to Burgenland – this walk would be similar to our escape. Only this time without fear, owning documents, so to say in bright sunshine.“
As quoted above, Hamed Abboud is a very diligent writer. In Syria and in the Middle East he has been publishing in newspapers and magazines since 2005; in 2012 his first volume of poetry was released: Der Regen der ersten Wolke / The first cloud’s rain (Verlag Arwad Publishers International Inc.).
In 2017 the Swiss publishing house pudelundpischer edited a wonderful bilingual sample of texts in Arabian (translated by Larissa Bender) and German: Der Tod backt einen Geburtstagskuchen / Death is baking a birthdaycake, followed by the children’s book Der Ritter der Schlüssel / Knight of the keys (translation by Kerstin Wilsch, Baobab Verlag 2018), the Austrian publishing house Edition Korrespondenzen 2020 released In meinem Bart versteckte Geschichten / Stories hidden in my beard (translated by Larissa Bender and Kerstin Wilsch).
This last volume again presents Hamed Abboud’s ability to play on ironic tenor, plucking at pride and prejustice hidden in the pale perception of – well probably lots of even oh-so-benevolent –westeners.
The reviews are impressed with the poet, the writer of prose and the creator of a wonderful children’s book.
After the release of Death is baking a birthdaycake Ivan Schnyder (041–Das Kulturmagazin«, April 2017)writes:
„Hamed Abboud is not only presenting depressing texts, branded by loss and pain but also funny, fanciful and now and then sarcastic lines. The opener I want to drive a tank is remembering Allen Ginzberg’s The Green Automobile (…) This book is a lucky strike for literature.“
Julia Stephan (Luzerner Zeitung 2017) states:
„The author is encasing scenes of war into the imagery of Marvel-Comics and compares the destructions of war to the overturn of dominoes standing side by side. Destruction may seem to be planless but for the one to tap the first token, hoping for biggest possible damage, it is methodical.“
Edition Korrespondenzen (Vienna), where Hamed Abboud’s Stories hidden in my beard was released, sees the author’s new book in the light of steady development, leaving war and terror behind in his writing, concentrating on a glance at life in Europe, including all the irritations and differences in cultural mentalities, looking for a room of his own in this new home.
„His black beard – men’s pride – suddenly turns into suspicion of terrorism, liberal-minded dress-codes make him sweat inside (…) in a satirical counteracting way Hamed Abboud is turning his own experiences, completing them with powerful associations as long as destiny has to offer a good moment – how small or absurd it may be.“
Poetry
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I wrote about death to tire the grim reaper / كتبتُ عن الموتِ لأُنهِكَه
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When I was young / عندما كنتُ صغيرا
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I’m the sperm / أنا النطفة التي وصلتْ
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To my future, large-hearted wife / الى زوجتي الكريمة المستقبلية:
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Saddened by this world / حزينٌ على هذا العالم وفرحٌ لأنني جزء منه
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I will donate my corpse to the medical students / سأتبرعُ بجثتي للطلاب
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I can hate you while I peel an orange / أستطيعُ أن أكرهك وأنا أقشر برتقالة
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We will return / سنعود
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Now we are proud of the cities / أصبحنا نتفاخر بمدن لجوئنا ونثأر ممن يتكلم عليها بالعاطل
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I want to drive a tank / Ich möchte einen Panzer fahren
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I would like a new life / أريد حياة جديدة
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This mourning / هذا الحزن
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I’m a very diligent poet. / أنا شاعر شاطر جداً
