A Conversation with Hadiya Hussein and Barbara Romaine about ‘Waiting for the Past’
“Wars shrouded every corner of our country with some painful tale, and I built Narjis’ character out of what happened to many.”
Iraq
New Short Fiction: ‘The Awakened Memory’ by Salima Saleh
“I remember another waterfall—how we left the dirt road and walked down towards the shore. Clear water flowing over the pebbles deepened in the middle of the river, so that leaving the shore became an adventure, and made the small island packed with trees appear distant, despite how close it actually was.”
New Iraqi Fiction: Muhammad Khudayyir’s ‘The Tunnel’
As the police closed in, the protesters began to retreat, individually and in groups.
New Fiction in Translation: Two Stories by Yasmeen Hanoosh
Yasmeen Hanoosh’s forthcoming short-story collection أطفال الجنة المنكوبة (Children of an Afflicted Paradise) was one of our “30 Reads: A Month of Iraqi Women Writers.” One short story from that […]
Short Fiction: Zuher Karim’s ‘The Awakening of Abdulmonam’
“This is a confusing experience, not intended to be comical in any way, shape, or form.”
An Excerpt from Poet Salah Niazi’s Memoir: ‘Curious Passengers’
“I returned to the compartment and found my seat, which a Syrian now occupied. Beside him was a jolly-looking young man with a hunchback. In the seat across from them was an old woman wrapped in an old blanket, constantly sighing.”
30 Reads: A Month of Iraqi Women Writers
Inspired by the inimitable Nadia Ghanem, who pioneered the “30 Reads” series with a list of recommended books by Algerian women writers, we have put together a look at a diverse list of 30 literary works by 30 different Iraqi women writers, in Arabic and Kurdish, and where possible in English translation.
Focus IRAQ: Canonical Works & New Voices
We asked a number of Iraqi writers, translators, and scholars to put together a list of their highlights from Iraqi literature.
Launching ‘In Focus: IRAQ’
Our first focus is IRAQ, curated by contributor Hend Saeed.