Afag Masud (Azerbaijani: Afaq Məsud) was born on June 3, 1957, in Baku. She is an Azerbaijani writer and playwright. She has received the title of People’s Writer and Honored Art Worker. She is a full member of Peter’s Academy of Art and Science, a full member of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Literature, and a member of the Georgian Writers Association. She serves as the Board Chair of the Azerbaijan Translation Centre and is the editor-in-chief of the “Khazar” World Literature Magazine. She is a playwright, Honored Art Worker, and a winner of the “Humay” award. She is also the chief editor of the “Khazar” World Literature Magazine and has received the Personal Presidential Pension of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which was awarded in 2025.
Life and literary career
Afag Masud was born on June 3, 1957, into a family of scholars in Baku. She earned a degree in journalism from Baku State University in 1979. From 1979 to 1986, she worked as an editor and a member of the editorial board at Azerbaijanfilm Studio. From 1986 to 1988, she served as the director of “Azerbaijantelefilm” Studio. Between 1989 and 2014, she held positions such as chair of the Republican Centre of Translation and Literary Relations and editor-in-chief of the “Khazar” World Literature Magazine.
In 2014, she was appointed Director of the Translation Centre under the government of Azerbaijan by a presidential decree dated May 16, 2014. In 2018, she became the board chair of the Azerbaijan State Translation Centre by a presidential order dated May 18, 2018.
She is the author of novels, plays, essays, and short stories. Her works, interviews, and articles have been published in many countries and on cultural and literary websites. Some of her plays include “At Death’s Door,” “He Loves Me,” “Getting to Leave,” “Woman under a Train,” “Karbala,” and “Mansur Al-Hallaj.” “At Death’s Door” and “He Loves Me” were performed at the State Theatre (directed by Vagif Ibrahimoghlu), and “Woman under a Train” was staged at the Academic National Drama Theatre (directed by Mehriban Alakbarzade).
Her works “The Sparrows” and “The Party” were adapted into television dramas, and “Night,” “Punishment,” and “The Death of the Rabbit” were made into television movies. “The Sparrows” was also adapted into a radio play in Vienna in 2004.
She translated many foreign books into Azerbaijani, including the novels “Autumn of the Patriarch” by Gabriel García Márquez and “The Web and the Rock” by Thomas Wolfe, as well as tazkira books by Muhammad Nasifi, Abu Hamid al-Ghazālī, Ibn Arabi, and Jalal ad-Din Rumi. In 1994, a reading and discussion of the German novel “Procession” took place at the Berlin Literary House.
In 2000, a doctoral thesis about her writing was completed at the University of Vienna by Sena Dogan, titled “Female Writers in European Oriental Studies.” She is also known for translating works by authors such as Franz Kafka, Guy de Maupassant, and Gabriel García Márquez into Azerbaijani. She currently works as the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani literary magazine Khazar.