01. Jun 2010

Two new books from ICORN Guest Writer Manal Al-Sheikh

Iraqi poet Manal Al Sheikh, who is currently the ICORN Guest Writer of Stavanger City of Refuge, has published two poetry collections this year. The poems were written partly before she had to leave Iraq, and partly after settling down in Stavanger.

One part of the poems of "Beln'kta Elhamra Tahta Ejnehe Eljosra" ("By The Red Dot Under His Left Eye") was written between 2006 and 2009 while Al Sheikh still lived in Iraq, first in Nineveh and later in Erbil. The other part of the collection was written after arriving in Norway. The poems tackle themes of love and passion, deprivation, melancholy, joy and loss. The collection was published in Beirut by Dar Ghao'n.

The second collection, "Rsael La Taselo" ("Messages Never To Reach"), was written between 2005 and 2008, while Al Sheikh lived in Nineveh and Erbil, and travelled to Algeria and Syria. "Rsael La Taselo" was published in Amman by Dar Fadaat, and deals with themes of war and love in Iraq, partly based on Manal Al Sheikh's personal experiences of Manal.