BLACK LAND
A Story of Genocide, Exile and The Language of Resistance in Modern China

Abduweli Ayup
with a foreword by Raffi Khatchadourian

“There is something very wrong with a state that tortures a man for opening kindergartens.  Abduweli Ayup writes how he suffered for his courage in preserving Uyghur culture, but Black Land is more than a prison memoir: as a graduate-trained linguist and journalist, Abduweli depicts, with unique insight, the Kafkaesque world of the Xinjiang gulag, where even Han Chinese guards wonder how the naïve young Uyghurs they interrogate could possible be considered “political prisoners.”  Once free, he collects and relates stories of other Uyghurs suffering C.C.P. repression from which even exile does not free them.  Like Elie Wiesel or Primo Levi, Abduweli Ayup analyzes as he describes the indescribable, and calmly devastates us.”

Professor James Millward, Georgetown University

“Abduweli Ayup has been a vital figure in keeping the Uyghur language and culture alive despite the relentless efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to eradicate both. This taut and moving memoir shows the terrible price he has paid, but also his triumph in escaping China to keep the Uyghur struggle strong and his own family safe.”

Nury Turkel, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and award-winning author of “No Escape” 

“Writing with the eye of a poet, Abduweli Ayup shows how his survival in Xinjiang detention depended on his relationships with guards, prisoners, Uyghur history and his own stubbornness. The narrative shimmers with images drawn from his interior life: the way the color orange evoked revulsion, the light of the moon refracted through concrete grime. BLACK LAND is a monumental indictment of the way Uyghur society has been overwhelmed by the criminalization of reflective thinking.”

Darren Byler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC

“A heart-wrenching read, Abduweli Ayup lifts the curtain and brings us into the great terror of China’s Uyghur genocide. With a tale of capture and escape, his story shows the worst of humanity in our century so far—up to 1.8 million Uyghur Muslims have been taken away to concentration camps. But through poetry and literature, Ayup offers an inkling of hope, with a spirit that shines through even at the darkest moments.”

Geoffrey Cain, foreign correspondent and author of “The Perfect Police State”

The descendant of a long line of Uyghur poets and cultural guardians, Ayup grew up surrounded by books, some of them beyond reach, others hidden. “If you talk about them,” his parents told him, “you will never see your father again.” From an early age, he dedicated his life to the study of language, going on to receive two master’s degrees—first in literature and then in linguistics—and when his daughter was old enough to study, he did what any parent would do: look around for schools. Without a Uyghur-language kindergarten in the neighbourhood, he put into practice what he had learned and began to build. Within months he had more than one and a half million followers online, but his popularity came at a price.

Abduweli Ayup’s story is the account of a man’s determination to preserve the language and culture of his Uyghur homeland against the might of the Chinese state. It records an ancient literary canon, celebrates the ways it has shaped a people’s history, and demonstrates the universal power of words to inspire many to protect their cultural identity for the future.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur poet, language and literature expert, the recipient of multiple international scholarships, and a member of PEN. In 2013 he was arrested, imprisoned and tortured after opening a kindergarten. Since his release he has lived in exile with his family and continues the language of resistance by teaching Uyghur to kindergarten students and via his journalism, collecting the stories of Uyghur exiles throughout the diaspora. He is the recipient of a Fritt Ord Foundation Award for this book.

Raffi Khatchadourian is a staff writer for the New Yorker writing about politics, foreign affairs and national security.