1. Nikahang Kowsar, known as The Dung Beetle is an Iranian-Canadian cartoonist, journalist, and blogger, currently living in Washington, DC, US.
20 Facts About Nikahang Kowsar
1. 2.
Nikahang Kowsar studied Geology in the University of Tehran, and joined Gol-Agha, an Iranian political satire magazine as a cartoonist in 1991.
3.
Nikahang Kowsar was arrested in Feb 2000 for drawing a cartoon and spent 6 days at the Evin Prison in Tehran.
4.
The cartoon was drawn by Nikahang Kowsar and satirized freedom of expression in Iran, and a speech given by Mesbah Yazdi in the previous day.
5.
Nikahang Kowsar was arrested and spent six days in prison for the depiction.
6.
In 2001, he sent an apology letter to Mesbah, and the cleric had said that he had accepted it, but later in 2003 Nikahang Kowsar received a death threat, from and Islamist assassin group.
7.
In 2005, CBC's Farid Haerinejad made a documentary about Nikahang Kowsar entitled "The Bloggers' War".
8.
Nikahang Kowsar has been sentenced to prison for his cartoons in absentia.
9.
Nikahang Kowsar has been free-lancing and his cartoons have been recently published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Maclean's, and The Guardian.
10.
Nikahang Kowsar is a member of the New York Times Syndicate.
11.
Nikahang Kowsar has appeared on CNN, BBC, CBC, CTV, VOA and many political TV shows as a guest analyst and observer.
12.
Nikahang Kowsar is a member of the board of directors of Cartoonists Rights Network International.
13.
Nikahang Kowsar is a member of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists and Journalists in Exile.
14.
Nikahang Kowsar won the 2001 international "Courage for Editorial Cartooning" award from Cartoonists Rights Network International.
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Nikahang Kowsar received the second prize of Canada's National Press Club editorial cartoon contest in 2001.
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Nikahang Kowsar has won 4 National Press Awards from Iran's "Press Festival" in 1996,1999,2000 and 2002.
17.
Nikahang Kowsar's cartoons are mainly published by Rooz online, a news website which is funded by a Dutch foundation.
18.
Nikahang Kowsar has been strongly criticized by supporters of the Iranian government, for his cartoons depicting Iran's involvement in Iraq, and possible war with the United States, as well as supporters of Iranian Reformists for criticizing former president Khatami and candidates like Mousavi and Karoubi.
19.
Nikahang Kowsar has criticized the reformist leaders for not taking responsibility for their acts in the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq war and mass-executions of political activists in Iran.
20.
Nikahang Kowsar was forced to quit professional cartooning after being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.