'How can they write about anything but pain?' The writing life in Afghanistan

Emerging Afghan writer Fazilhaq Hashimi looks back at an upbringing surrounded by war, even in language – and reclaims his country’s past status as the land of poetry, story-telling, fables and folktales

By Fazilhaq Hashimi for The Writing Life Around the World from Electric Literature, part of the Guardian Books Network

Here is a page from my elementary school math book [see below] from the Afghan civil war era (1992 – 2001). At the bottom of the page, the teacher’s guide notes that the instructor “must ask about the names, usage, and quantity of the above items.” The word “quantity” is the only math-related term. It is mentioned at the end of the series. The names and usages of the ammunitions are given pride of place.

Oh, my Mujahid brother, I’m a Muslim,

Lying injured at the infidels’ prison

Until the early 19th century, many of the former rulers shared an intense interest in poetry

In Afghanistan, we do not write for fun, passion, or money but to express the immeasurable pain inside

It is very easy for writers to be labeled “racist” or Kafir (infidel) in Afghanistan

I have traveled a long path (of wars, poverty, and illiteracy) to writing, and so did many of my fellow Afghan writers

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