Here's Why We Haven't Heard a Lot about Libyan Literature

When Libya is hitting the headlines why don't we hear a lot of Libyan writers. Agreed, we have been hearing a lot about them these past few months, which is a crawling (in a manner of speaking) from the crevices in which they have been hiding from torture meted out by an autocratic tyrant's acolytes. Now we know.

Here's Shakir Noor writing in Gulf News about their trials. He writes:

"When there is talk of Libya, you hardly hear anything about its culture. That's because many writers and intellectuals have lived there for years in a state of fear and afraid of being tortured. We hear nothing about Libyan culture because of the existing system in the country and also the total boycott of cultural activities."