Haile Bizen, “The Man who broke the Silence”, breaks away from the regime

He fled Eritrea fearing persecution after systematically being interrogated several times for his recent book - “Behind the doors”- a collection of selected poetry. Most of Haile’s poems matched the existing reality in the country and symbolically manifested the imposed silence of the Eritrean people. Haile was nicknamed “sebar sQta” which means “a man who broke the silence,” after he released his recent book.

Haile was working for PFDJ’s Political Affairs as a Journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Hidri Publishers and he was also a member of the editorial board of Hwyet Private Magazine which was banned in 2001. Currently, he had been working in the Ministry of Information, in the Office of the Minister as public relations officer.

Haile has authored and published three books, edited most of the books published in Eritrea after independence of the country. He also wrote several articles, literary critics as well as many plays. For example, “Asmara Beloved” is a book he co-authored with Sami Sallinen.

http://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/asmara-beloved