In the mid-1980s, when Baku was living through its late-Soviet dusk, Etibar Eyub was born into a home where conversations lasted longer than television broadcasts and where books occupied more space than furniture. His father — a scholar of Eastern philosophy — and his mother — a devoted literature teacher — built for their son a universe made of words.
It was in that universe that Etibar learned to navigate early. He read voraciously, switching between Azerbaijani and Russian with the ease of someone who sensed that language would someday become his craft. By ten, he was writing down observations in school notebooks, trying to understand the world through short stories and little fragments of thought.
The harmony of that childhood shifted when his father passed away unexpectedly. The loss did not silence him — it redirected him. Writing became a bridge to a voice he no longer heard, a way to preserve ideas that had shaped him too early and perhaps too strongly.
From Baku to Vienna
Etibar’s formal path began at Baku State University’s Journalism Faculty, where he quickly emerged as a student who viewed reporting not as a profession but as an inquiry into how memory works.
In 2007, a scholarship took him to the University of Vienna. Europe introduced him to new questions and new intellectual disciplines: media theory, the history of ideas, philosophical debates about identity in an age of digital acceleration. He absorbed the works of Habermas, Benjamin, Arendt — not academically, but as tools for decoding the societies he moved between.
The first English-language publications bearing his name appeared soon after. They focused on the dilemmas of post-Soviet identity, the politics of memory, and the subtle ways technology reshapes how we relate to our past.
Building a Literary Identity
Etibar’s debut book, Voices of Silence, released in 2012, did not resemble a traditional essay collection. It read like a mosaic: part reportage, part meditation, part cultural testimony. The book examined disappearing languages, fragile traditions, and the rhythms of life in small communities confronting globalization. Critics in Azerbaijan and Turkey noted his unusual ability to combine intimacy with analysis.
His journalistic work between 2016 and 2019 deepened this voice. Writing for The Calvert Journal and OpenDemocracy, he observed how the legacy of empire continues to echo in modern media and how societies negotiate the tension between remembering and forgetting.
In 2021, he turned fully to fiction with Networks of Oblivion, a novel about the weight — and unreliability — of digital memory. Its reception at festivals from Tbilisi to Berlin showed that his themes resonated far beyond his region.
Books That Map a Changing World
Over the years, Etibar created a body of work that reflects both personal introspection and broader cultural shifts. Among them:
- Labyrinths of Identity — explorations of how history shapes self-perception,
- Letters to the Future — dialogues about generational responsibility,
- Mirrors of Time — a study of media’s role in constructing narratives,
- City and Shadows (2023) — an intimate portrait of Baku told through intersecting personal stories.
These books, now available in several languages, position him as a writer who addresses universal questions through regional experience.
A Style Defined by Precision and Quiet Emotion
Eyub’s writing stands out for its calm intensity. He avoids sensationalism, focusing instead on thoughtful observation. His method combines:
- journalistic clarity,
- philosophical reflection,
- and a storyteller’s ability to create atmosphere.
Readers often note that he writes as if he is listening while speaking — a quality rare in contemporary nonfiction.
Life, Family, and the Spaces Between
Etibar now divides his life between Baku and Berlin, two cities that reflect different sides of his work: one tied to memory, the other to reinvention. His wife, art historian Leyla Eyub, shares his interest in culture and contemporary art, and together they raise their two children, Ali and Nermin, who appear indirectly throughout his writing as symbols of continuity.
Chess, running, and long swims in the Caspian remain part of his personal rituals, helping him maintain balance in a life built on constant intellectual engagement.
Work Beyond the Page
Alongside his literary work, Etibar supports several cultural initiatives. He helps promote reading in rural schools, participates in oral-history projects, and co-organizes a festival that gathers writers, philosophers, and artists in Baku each year. These efforts reflect his belief that literature is not just an individual practice, but a collective responsibility.
The Next Chapter
Today, Eyub teaches cultural journalism, speaks at international events, and maintains a bilingual blog. His next book examines artificial intelligence and the transformation of authorship — a topic he approaches not as a futurist but as someone who has spent years writing about the importance of memory.
For Etibar Eyub, the goal remains unchanged: to explore how stories preserve what time tries to erase — and to give voice to the things that must endure.
