Behrouz Boochani

Behrouz Boochani, born on July twenty-third, nineteen eighty-three, is an Iranian Kurdish journalist, writer, poet, film producer, and political activist currently residing in New Zealand. His journey to prominence began during his detention at the Australian-run Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, where he was held from two thousand thirteen until its closure in two thousand seventeen. Following the closure, he remained on the island until September two thousand nineteen, when he was relocated to Port Moresby with other detainees.

On November fourteenth, two thousand nineteen, Boochani arrived in Christchurch on a one-month visa to participate in a special event organized by WORD Christchurch, scheduled for November twenty-ninth, along with various other speaking engagements. After his visa expired in December of the same year, he continued to stay in New Zealand until he was granted refugee status in July two thousand twenty. This milestone allowed him to take on the role of Senior Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury.

As a co-director of the documentary 'Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time,' alongside Iranian filmmaker Arash Kamali Sarvestani, Boochani has made significant contributions to the discourse surrounding the plight of refugees. His writings have been featured in leading international media outlets, and he has received numerous accolades for his work.

Boochani's memoir, 'No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison,' which was uniquely composed on a mobile phone and translated from Persian to English by Omid Tofighian, won the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction in January two thousand nineteen. Following the release of his second collection, 'Freedom, Only Freedom: The Prison Writings of Behrouz Boochani,' in November two thousand twenty-two, he visited Australia for the first time in December to promote the book.