‘Abdulwāḥid Lu’lu’a is discussing Nāzik Al-Malā’ika’s poems on 1/28, 6:00pm–7:00pm GMT, from Cambridge. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83547890773?pwd=aVcxTTU5Nk02dGQxeXZrTi8zM3Zndz09&fbclid=IwAR0HCOMqcquriLLG5VeXmuQvbuSBlM3mDZzJUsA9P9IIkvN7ORqJyzn8Sk4#successContinue Reading

Iraqi poet Nazik al-Mala’ika is best known for the important role she played in the development and popularization of Arabic “free verse” (or taf’ila poetry) in the 1950s. But while she is well known as a pioneer, her verse itself is less well-known, and largely absent in translation. Emily Drumstra has translated one of al-Mala’ika’s poems for Jadaliyya, “Revolt Against the Sun,” and is currently at work on another translation. She talked about translating al-Mala’ika.Continue Reading

Yet Iraqi literature continues, somehow, to blossom. There are older writers Fadhil al-Azzawi and Muhammad Khudayyir still at work (although the former in exile), and much younger ones, too: Thirtysomething Iraqi Hassan Blassim has been called “perhaps the best writer of Arabic fiction alive.”Continue Reading