Mansour Koushan (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: منصور کوشان) (26 December 1948

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

– 16 February 2014

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

) was a prominent Iranian novelist, poet, playwright, editor and director. He received the

Ossietzky Award The Ossietzky Award () is a prize awarded by the Norwegian chapter of P.E.N., for extraordinary contributions to freedom of speech. The prize is named after writer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Carl von Ossietzky. Recipients * Aziz Nesin (19 ...

in 2010 for his outstanding work for human rights and freedom of expression. He was an active member of Iranian Writers’ Association and a strong opponent to the Iranian regime. In December 1998 Koushan was invited by the Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression to deliver a speech at the 50th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights Charter. Not long after, he received news that two of his friends and colleagues Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Ja'far Pouyandeh had been abducted and killed in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. His name was said to be on the regime's death list. These killings were part of what is known as

Chain Murders of Iran The chain murders of Iran () were a series of 1988–98 murders and disappearances of certain Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system. The murders and disappearances were carried out by Iranian gover ...

. Koushan was then forced to live in exile and resided in Norway the rest of his life. In Iran Koushan was the editor of independent literary periodicals Iran, Donyaye Sokhan, Takapou and Adineh. Takapou was shut down in 1996 for being the sole outlet to publish the " 1994 Declaration of 134 Iranian Writers," a letter against censorship that would result in the deaths of many of its signatories at the hands of the Iranian regime's secret service. In Norway he was the artistic manager and director of Teater Sølvberg and staged many plays by international artists. In recent years he was the editor of Jonge Zaman literary quarterly. Koushan was awarded a literary prize in Iran for his theoretical analysis of Norwegian playwright

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's work. He has published more than 40 titles of poetry, short stories, novels, analysis and plays, as well as hundreds of analytical essays on culture, literature, society and politics. He died of

Gastric Cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes ...

on 16 February 2014 at the age of 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koushan, Koushan 1948 births 2014 deaths Writers from Isfahan Iranian male novelists Iranian novelists 20th-century Iranian poets Iranian dramatists and playwrights Iranian emigrants to Norway 21st-century Iranian poets