SAID was born in Tehran in 1947 and came to Munich in 1965 as a student. It was here that he combined his literary interests with a political commitment to democracy, thus making it impossible for him to return to Iran. After the Shah was toppled in 1979 he entered Iran again for the first time, but could not see a future for himself in his homeland under the rule of the mullahs. Since then he has been living in exile in Germany.

Photo: © Brigitte Friedrich

Awards:

• 1986 Literature Prize of the City of Munich
• 1992 Civis Radio Prize
• 1994 Premio Letterario Internazionale ‘Jean Monnet’
• 1996 City of Heidelberg Prize for Literature in Exile
• 1997 Residency at the Villa Aurora (Los Angeles, US)
• 1997 Hermann Kesten Medal of the P.E.N. Center, Germany
• 2002 Adelbert von Chamisso Prize

www.said.at/