in 1984 as an editor of the cultural section of Al-Jumhuriya newspaper. He began publishing short stories in 1983 and contributed to several renowned magazines in the Arab world; Al-Tali’a, Al-Aqlam and Al-Gomhoria newspaper.
His story “The Strange Object” won the 1983 Short Story Prize. He left Iraq in 1992 for Jordan to work in journalism. In 1996 He sought political asylum in Netherland. He studied graphic design and obtained a master’s degree in the architectural structure of the Latin letter. He worked as a designer and film critic for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf until 2014.
He was a jury member for the Iranian Film Festival in Amsterdam and the Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam. He worked as Editor-in-chief of the “International Cinema” published in Dutch and Arabic until 2010. In cooperation with the Tareeq AlShaab newspaper, he founded “The Cultural Path” newspaper and was its editor until 2014. He is currently a professor of graphic and new journalism at the Graphic Institute of Lyceum, Amsterdam, and a trainer of design and new journalism, “Cross Media” at the German Academy for Media Development. Hayawi is a Member of the Dutch Writers Union
Literary works
His first novel “Holes of Water” was published in 1983 by the Cultural Affairs Publishing House, Baghdad. The novel is a study of human relations in the countryside and marshlands of Southern Iraq in times of distress and flood.
His novel “Fatima al-Khadra” was awarded the best Iraqi novel prize in 1985, however, it was banned from publication as it was perceived as condemnation of the war.
His first collection of stories was published in 1986 by Afaq publishing house.
His novel “A Connected Walk” won the best Iraqi Novel Prize and was published in 1988 by the Cultural Affairs Publishing House, Baghdad. The novel chronicles the plight of young soldiers during war.
A series of “Thousand and One Nights for Children” was published in 1990 by Ur House for Publishing and Distribution in Baghdad
* His short story collection, A Lightened Room for Fatimah, was translated into English in 1996 and published in Spain.
* His collection “Thank you, elephant” “Dank Je Wel Olifant” for children was published in Dutch in 2010 by Silat publishing, Amsterdam.
* His third novel, “Khan Al-Shabandar”, was published in 2015 by Dar Al-Adab for Publishing and Distribution, Beirut. It is an attempt to rediscover the Iraqi persona, dissipated by the war and fall of the dictatorship.
His fourth novel, “The Household of Sudan”, was published in 2017, by Dar Al-Adab for publication and distribution, Beirut. It is an attempt to monitor the social changes in Iraq before and after the war of 2003 by the west, the destructive effects on human relations and the widening rift between the past of Mesopotamia and its bloody present.
His fifth novel, “The Butterfly Biography”, was published in 2019, and it is an attempt to trace the tragedy of the crushed generation of Arab intellectuals under the war machine raging in Syria, specifically in Aleppo.
His works are translated and published in English, French, Dutch, Persian, Turkish and Kurdish.
