The Iraqi Nights

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book The Iraqi Nights by Dunya Mikhail, New Directions
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Author: Dunya Mikhail ISBN: 9780811222877
Publisher: New Directions Publication: May 27, 2014
Imprint: New Directions Language: English
Author: Dunya Mikhail
ISBN: 9780811222877
Publisher: New Directions
Publication: May 27, 2014
Imprint: New Directions
Language: English

A stunning new collection by one of Iraq’s brightest poetic voices

The Iraqi Nights is the third collection by the acclaimed Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail. Taking The One Thousand and One Nights as her central theme, Mikhail personifies the role of Scheherazade the storyteller, saving herself through her tales. The nights are endless, seemingly as dark as war in this haunting collection, seemingly as endless as war. Yet the poet cannot stop dreaming of a future beyond the violence of a place where “every moment / something ordinary / will happen under the sun.” Unlike Scheherazade, however, Mikhail is writing, not to escape death, but to summon the strength to endure. Inhabiting the emotive spaces between Iraq and the U.S., Mikhail infuses those harsh realms with a deep poetic intimacy. The author’s vivid illustrations — inspired by Sumerian tablets — are threaded throughout this powerful book.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A stunning new collection by one of Iraq’s brightest poetic voices

The Iraqi Nights is the third collection by the acclaimed Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail. Taking The One Thousand and One Nights as her central theme, Mikhail personifies the role of Scheherazade the storyteller, saving herself through her tales. The nights are endless, seemingly as dark as war in this haunting collection, seemingly as endless as war. Yet the poet cannot stop dreaming of a future beyond the violence of a place where “every moment / something ordinary / will happen under the sun.” Unlike Scheherazade, however, Mikhail is writing, not to escape death, but to summon the strength to endure. Inhabiting the emotive spaces between Iraq and the U.S., Mikhail infuses those harsh realms with a deep poetic intimacy. The author’s vivid illustrations — inspired by Sumerian tablets — are threaded throughout this powerful book.

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