Husain Marhoon: A Journey that Just Starts
Husain Marhoon defines himself as an entrepreneur and independent journalist from Bahrain, an Arab country in the Persian Gulf. Throughout his career, Marhoon has specialized in political and cultural stories. A milestone in his career was the coverage of the Bahraini uprisings in 2011, when thousand people mobilized to demand constitutional and political reforms. His articles were published in a variety of Arab newspapers and periodicals, including Al-monitor, Al-Akhbar, An-Nahar and Al-Jazeera Documentary. He also worked as a reporter and coordinator of the cultural pages for the Bahraini daily newspapers Al Waqt and Al Ayam. Now, he is a freelance correspondent for various foreign outlets.
He also specializes in Arabic calligraphy. This started as a hobby, but now he designs book covers. “I started studying Arabic calligraphy when I was a kid. In my small village, there are a lot of people that work as a calligraphist. I grew up in this atmosphere. I learned from very talented people and studied on my own too. After that, my friends asked me if I can design books covers. That was the beginning.”
Marhoon decided to participate in the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism program because he wants to create his own media outlet to publish the stories than no one will publish in his country. And although he’s talented in calligraphy, he wants to create a minimalistic website.
“This area, entrepreneurial journalism, is very important to me. I was searching for this because I am a freelancer and I am trying to start a new challenge in my career. I want to develop my own startup. I want to find a business model that is sustainable. I have a lot of ideas, but the big question is how can it be profitable? I want to create something related in lifestyle or business.”
