Amal Al-Jubouri (born 1967) is an Iraqi writer, poet, translator, journalist and publisher.

Amal al-Jubouri

Biography

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Al-Jubouri was born in Baghdad in 1967.[1] When she was 19, al-Jubouri's first anthology Wine from Wounds was published.[2] After a dissenting article she wrote came to the notice of Saddam Hussein, al-Jubouri was interrogated and put under surveillance. She fled Iraq and took political asylum in Germany in 1998.[3] She continued writing her poems in Germany, translated German ones into Arabic language and brought out a periodical Diwan.[4] For a brief period, she also served as the cultural counselor for the Yemeni embassy in Berlin.[2]

Her poetry collection Eheduanna, the Priestess of Exile (1999), won the Best Arabic Book Award at a Lebanese book fair. So Much Euphrates Between Us, another volume of her poems was published in 2003.[5] The same year, she returned to Iraq just a few days after the fall of Hussein.[3] In 2011, Hagar Before the Occupation, Hagar After the Occupation, a collection of her Arabic poems translated into English by Rebecca Gayle Howell and Husam Qaisi, was published.[6] It was shortlisted for the 2012 Best Translated Book Award.[7] Library Journal included it in its Best Books of 2011 list.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Amal al-Jubouri" (in German). Perlentaucher. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Amal Al-Jubouri". Smith College. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b Saul, Jonathan (22 October 2014). "Iraqi poet seeks to heal her homeland with words". Al Arabiya. Reuters. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  4. ^ Bakirdögen, Ayhan (20 June 2003). "Kulturelle Mittlerin zwischen Spree und Euphrat" [Cultural mediator between the Spree and the Euphrates]. Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  5. ^ Hueck, Carsten (27 April 2004). "Verführerische Trugbilder. Ein Gedichtband der Irakerin Amal al-Jubouri" [Seductive illusions: A book of poetry by the Iraqi Amal al-Jubouri]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  6. ^ Paden, Jeremy. "How to Live in Exile: The Poetry of Amal al-Jubouri". Asymptote. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  7. ^ Post, Chad W. (10 April 2012). "2012 Best Translated Book Award Finalists: Fiction and Poetry". University of Rochester. Retrieved 10 November 2017.