Afaq MasudDormitory
(1981)YataqxanaAfaq
Masud [pronounced ah-FAHG mah-SUD] is one of the very few women
in Azerbaijan who have succeeded in making a career out of writing.
She was born in Baku on June 3, 1957. She graduated in Journalism
from Baku State University, and has worked in Azerbaijanfilm
Studio. She has been a member of Azerbaijan Writer's Union since
1981.

Masud is the author of the following books: On The Third Floor
(Uchuncu Martabada), Transition (Kecid), Saturday Night (Shanba
Gejasi), Alone (Tak), Crowd (Izdiham) and Freedom (Azadlig).

Three films have been made for television based on her scripts:
Punishment (Jaza), Sparrows (Sarchalar) and Night (Geja). Her
works have been translated into Russian, English, German, French
and Turkish. She has translated the novels "The Web and
the Rock" by Thomas Wolfe and "Autumn of the Patriarch"
by Marquez Gabriel Garcia from Russian into Azeri.

Presently sheis the Director of the Center of Translation for
Art Works and Literary Relations of the Azerbaijan Writers' Union.

In Dormitory, published here
in English for the first time, Masud provides a satiric spoof
on what it is like to have everybody poking their noses into
everything you do. No doubt, since it was written in 1983 when
Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union, her story has meaning
on numerous levels. The author concludes, however, that societal
restraints, no matter how limiting, have their own place. Dormitory
was translated by Aynur Hajiyeva and edited by Betty Blair.

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Art: Vugar Muradov. Visit AZgallery.org
for contacts.

When
Mastan said: "My back hurts," everybody in the building,
replied: "Jan".1 When Mastan sneezed, everybody in the
building said: "Be healthy!" Mastan coughed, everybody
in the building brought medicine. Mastan's wife cooked a dish.
Everybody in the building