The Syrian Ministry of Culture, the Arab Writers Union, and the Syrian cultural community mourn the loss of Syrian writer and author Haidar Haidar, who passed away at the age of 87. The late author was born in 1936 in the village of Hossein Al-Bahr in Tartus Governorate. He received his primary education there before enrolling in the Teacher Training Institute in Aleppo, where he completed his studies and graduated in 1954. He then moved to Damascus, where he began writing for daily and monthly publications.
Haidar was one of the founders of the Arab Writers Union in Damascus in 1968 and served as a member of its executive office. He published his collection "Al-Wamdh" in 1970, among other books that were the first publications of the union. In the same year, he went to Algeria to work as a teacher in the city of Ain El-Hamra while continuing to write and publish in Arab periodicals.
His works include: "Tales of the Migrating Seagull" (stories), "The Panther," "The Flash," "The Savage Time" (novel), "The Flood" (stories), "Kabotshi" (biography and struggle of Kabotshi), "The Wild Goats" (stories), "Waves" (two stories), "A Feast for Sea Herbs: Ode of Death" (novel), "Mirrors of Fire," "The Final Chapter" (novel), "Exile Papers: Testimonies About Our Time" (documents), "Twilight of the Gods" (stories), and "Gypsy Suns" (novel).
Throughout his literary career, Haidar received several awards, including the Lucarno Film Festival Award, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award, and the Damascus New Cinema Festival Award.
