Award-winning writer and UK-based film director Kae Bahar, who was born in Kirkuk during the regime of Saddam Hussein, is set to publish a new book, The Good, the Bad, and the Gringo, with Afsana Press on October 9, 2024. Originally published in 2015 as Letters From A Kurd, Afsana Press has agreed to re-release the book under its new title.

“The book is available via the Afsana Press website and platforms like Waterstone and Amazon for pre-order. Soon it will reach bookshops across the Kurdistan Region and, hopefully, I will get it to high schools and universities by including it in the curriculum,” Bahar said.

“At the age of fourteen, I was arrested by the dictator’s secret police and sentenced to death for no other reason than being a Kurd, although I was miraculously saved. While the novel is not autobiographical, I do share many sentiments with Merywan Rashaba, my protagonist, such as a deep passion for film and a profound love for Kurdistan,” Bahar told Kurdistan Chronicle.

Kurdish literature on the world market

“Kurdistan and Kurdish independence are the central themes of my story. Freedom has always been our dream since it was taken away from us and, for the first time, this is being expressed through a work of fiction. I believe the call for Kurdish independence is legitimate and deserves international recognition. In this regard, we can say The Good, the Bad, and the Gringo is the first novel about patriotism, freedom, and the long-awaited desire to create an independent Kurdistan.”

However, Bahar added that a complex political situation overshadows his protagonist’s hopes and dreams. “From a young age, Rashaba is forced to fight for survival on three fronts simultaneously; against his illiterate, merciless, and devoutly religious father, against a narrow-minded and intolerant society, and against the tyranny of the oppressive regime under which he is growing up.”

“Ever since I left my beloved Kurdistan and arrived in Europe in 1980, I have always wanted to write a novel alongside my acting and filmmaking,” he added. “This was motivated by the fact that I could not find one work of fiction or novel written by a Kurd in any bookshop or library anywhere in Europe.”

He said that he had searched bookshops in Rome, Paris, Berlin, London, and “many other cities and was saddened and deeply frustrated to find nothing. It was disappointing that after a century of armed struggle and so much sacrifice, we did not have any literary work on the world market.”

In 2011, once he was confident with his English, he decided to take on the challenge of writing the first Kurdish novel in English. “My intention was to engage the world’s readership and take them on an amazing journey to Kurdistan through Rashaba’s story. This has been one of the greatest challenges of my life.

Bahar paused his acting work, abandoned filmmaking, and locked himself in a room where he wrote sixteen to eighteen hours every day for two years. Moreover, he was forced to sell his house in the UK. “Thankfully my wife, Josie Bahar, stood by me rather than divorcing me. She also designed the cover page for the book and was very proud of her work and its contribution toward Kurdish independence,” he said. 

“After two years of writing full time, and a year of re-writing and editing, at last, I had a completed manuscript that I could send out to publishers. After contacting several literary agents and getting heartbreaking rejections, a year passed before Brie Burkeman fell in love with it and started sending it to publishers. Faber & Faber was interested but that didn’t work out. Soon after, we approached Yolk, a new publisher who was going to give their maximum attention to the book and its marketing. I will never forget the day we celebrated the book launch at the London Review Bookshop in the presence of some 150 guests.”

“That evening, the fantastic feeling of achievement justified four years of working for free, without getting a penny, taking a gamble where I didn’t know if my book was going to be published.”

A story about all Kurds

The book was published in March 2015 under the title of Letters From A Kurd. “At the time the Kurdish peshmerga were fighting ISIS, and the world seemed to wake up to the Kurdish call for freedom. Therefore, we thought that having the word Kurd in the title would help sales, but we were wrong.” 

“Despite all our tragedies, including the Anfal Campaign, chemical gas attacks, mass exodus, and the war against ISIS, most of the world still doesn’t know about the Kurds. Sadly, my publisher’s health suddenly deteriorated, and he had to close his business. Therefore, my book, despite being in demand and receiving many five-star reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and Waterstones, soon went out of print. After that, I was too busy with my filmmaking and planned to wait until I made my first feature film and gained some international recognition, which would help with the re-publication of the book.”

However, Afsana Press, a new publishing house in London read the book, were fascinated by the story, and decided to publish it again. “For this second edition, we agreed on the new title of The Good, the Bad, and the Gringo, which is the most appropriate title for the story and very dear to me.”

Bahar hopes to get support from the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers to publish “the novel in different languages in every country where there is Kurdish representation.”

“Apart from having them give away the book in their country of residence as a gift, I also aim to approach publishers to publish the book in languages like French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Frankly, I believe The Good, the Bad, and the Gringo is one of the best representations of the Kurds and Kurdistan. I would deeply appreciate the support of Kurds worldwide in making sure the book will not go unnoticed in the very competitive world market.

Moreover, Bahar will do a book launch at Stanfords Bookshop in Covent Garden in the center of London on October 9, 2024.

“This gives me four more months to get the news of the re-publication of the book out there, do effective marketing, and get some supporters on board, including Kurdish leaders, organizations, TV channels, social media influencers, friends, and others, to review and talk about the book. I spent four years writing the book, but Merywan’s story is about all of us Kurds, not only those from Southern Kurdistan (Kurdistan Region of Iraq), but also other parts of Kurdistan.”