At the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Baghdad, 1962 or 1963 |
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Standing from r. to l.: Mahdi Mutashar (painter, from Al-Hilla, now in France), Yahya Ash-Sheik (painter and sculptor, from Al-Imara or Baghdad, now probably in Iraq or Syria), Ali Talib (painter, from Al-Basrah, I don´t know his current whereabout). I do not remember the names of the others. Sitting, from r. to l.: Anwar Al-Ghassani. I don´t remember the names of the other three. |
A New Poem |
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I Still Love Iraq; It seems I Am A Person Of Culture
I am now a grown up man Is this real or only words? I am lost, but in the realm of the dead, I love Iraq. San José, April 09, 2009 |
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The New Iraq - Death in August - Death in Date Palm Trees Orchards |
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ÊÌãíÜÜá ÈÚÜÜÏ ãíáÇÏí ÝÜí ÃæÑ Beautification After My Birth At Ur |
Original Arabic text of the poem | Recital of the Spanish version (video) |
English and Spanish translations | Watch More Poetry Videos |
Language for LVT |
Watch More Poetry Videos | Comments |
Finally, I now know where to find my book "Al-Iraq",
my epical poem about Iraq. And that was that. Since then, I never again heard a word about the poem, neither from scholars, critics or readers, nor from the publishers. The poem faded into oblivion in the mostly phlegmatic and superfial poetry appreciation in the Arab World. Last year, I found a reference to the book under my name at amazon.com. The book was described as being out of print. This went on until yesterday, October 28, 2008, when, by pure coincidence, I came across a Lebanese book vendor website, neelwafurat.com, where I found the book listed for sale. Sixteen years after its publication the poem is still available in its first edition/ printing. It seems Arabic poetry readers haven´t been queuing to buy the poem that carries, at least since 2003, the name of a modern Arab tragedy. This is the state of low appreciation for serious poetry in the Arab World that never seizes to praise itself as a world of poetry lovers and expresses solidarity with Iraq day in day out, but when it comes to translating this into a small action, like buying a poem about the Iraqi tragedy, well, no, that is then too much an effort. I am generalizing, yet I do believe the Arab World deserves such a harsh judgement. However, I do see also the exceptions, there are exceptions to this in the Arab World. Incredible! I couldn´t believe it. The site offers the book in this funny way: market price: $3, our price. $2.55. Oh, god, imagine this miserably low price. In December, I am planning to buy some 20 copies. Before that I will write to Neel wa Furat to thank them for reviving my hope and giving visibility to my book. |
![]() Cover of "Al-Iraq" |
A New Poem |
Why have you forgotten Fellini? Federico Fellini (1920-1993), Have you forgotten That is all what we need: A bird clapping wings, O, mechanical bird San José, Friday, October 17, 2008 |
At the workshop - A new essay in Spanish: The Mother of the Poet / La madre del poeta |
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This sweet photo from 1940 or 1941 is the starting point for an essay I am writing in Spanish. Tentative title "The Mother of the Poet" or "The Poet and his Mother" (La madre del poeta o el poeta y su madre). In the photo, from l. to r.: my mother Munira Sayyed Tahir carrying my brother Farouq, then myself carried by my uncle Ahmad Sayyed Tahir. The essay starts with a detailed description of this photo. After that it explores the relation between me and my mother throughout her life and until her death in 1973, partly as mother and son relation, but above all as a relation between the poet and his mother. Furthermore, I will try to describe and understand her life and, I hope, I will be able to create a lasting monument for her as a great mother. Anwar Al-Ghassani |
Four of my Spanish Poems Four of my poems written in Spanish were included In "Yaaa Aliii", an anthology of contemporary Iraqi poetry, published by Clase Turista, Buenos Aires. Although the anthology was published in 2006, I was only able to buy it and get it delivered in September 2008. (Please find below more details about the poems and the book.) |
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The cover, handicrafted as an envelope. |
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Stamps on the cover. The one to the right carries the image of the late King Ghazi (1912-1939). The stampt was issued during the years of his rule (1933-1939). The other stamp dates to 1966. It carries this information "The Arab International Tourist Union, Baghdad 1966". It was probably issued on the occasion of a congress in Baghdad. The stamps are originals. They are not reproductions. |
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Herencia (Heritage) one of my four poems published in the anthology. The poem is dedicated to my mother Munira Sayyed Tahir (1915-1973). The other poems are: Jk, Teniente Salah Jamil - un épico ( Lieutenant Salah Jamil - An Epic), Balance después del desastre (Stock-Taking After the Disaster). The other participating poets are: Nedhal Abbas (4 poems), Sinan Antoon (3 poems), Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen (1 poem), Adnan Al-Sayegh (1 poem). All poems were written in Arabic, translated to English and then to Spanish except the poems of Anwar Al-Ghassani which were written in Spanish. ------ (2006): Yaaa Aliii - pequeña antología de poesía iraquí contemporánea. Buenos Aires: Clase Turista, 46 páginas. For more information and / or to buy the book (price: $8.90, however if you want it to be delivered by DHL as I did, the cost, as expected, will jump to about $50. For me it was more than worth it. It is a nice and elegant book of good poems): Clase Turista Publishers (info about the publishers) Dos Fuerzas Books (where you may buy the book) |
Der Darss Anwar Al-Ghassani |
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Como llama blanca |
Como llama blanca (Anwar Al-Ghassani, Irak) (Texto del Festival /YouTube) Memoria del Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín. Anwar Al-Ghassani Qal'at Saleh, Irak, 1937. Creció en la provincia de Kirkuk, el primer y más viejo centro petrolero de Irak. Trabajó en la exploración de petróleo y como maestro de educación artística, para pasar a desempeñarse en Bagdad como traductor y periodista. En 1968 salió del país para estudiar en Alemania, donde obtuvo un doctorado en periodismo de la Universidad de Leipzig. Llegó a Costa Rica en 1979 y regresó a Alemania, posteriormente trabajó también en Argelia para luego, en 1984, radicarse definitivamente en Costa Rica. Cofundador de uno de los grupos literarios más influyentes en la poesía Iraquí y árabe actual, el Kirkuk Group, surgido en los años 50 en la ciudad multiétnica de Kirkuk. |
Comentario La calidad del sonido y de video no es para decir que bruto, pero estoy muy agradecido a los amigos de la revista Prometeo y del Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín por poner este video en YouTube. Este poema fue escrito en árabe. Su título "Embellecimiento después de mi nacimiento en Ur" pero ya lo pusieron otro título "Como llama blanca" que me parece bonito. La lectura se llevó a cabo en una linda sala de cultura en una calle principal, una tarde en la bella Medellín. Anwar Al-Ghassani |
N E W The Jimi Hendrix Poem (second and final version) |
![]() Jimi Hendrix slumbering. To the right, a detail from the cover of his 1968 album Electric Ladyland, the final album of the series "The Jimi Hendrix Experience". |
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NEW --- Poem in Arabic, just uploaded "Elegy of Ibrahim Zair" * Source: ÅÓÜÊÌáÇÁ ÇáÕÜæÊ ÝÜí ÇáÕÜÎÜÈ (Unveiling The Voice within The Noise) - Collection - Arabic - 1993 |
Page - 1 | Page - 2 | Page - 3 | Page - 4 |
My dearest friends, Ibrahim Zair (1943?-1972) - right -, poet, journalist, graphics designer and painter, and Sargon Boulus (1943-2007) - left -, one of the greatest poets of modern Iraqi and Arabic poetry. The photo was made in an art exhibition in Baghdad in mid sixties. |
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Encroachment In Green
Huge flowers of four dimensional petals, solidified starch, extravagant, They watch, minds fogged by humidity and heat, bodies warm, They harvest the sounds. So much meaning pertains to the chaos. They clinch to their illusions, their only knowledge and shelter. "O, night followed by tender early morning hours", they say, "we have not yet written our farewell from our beloved land. We yet have no tears. Our love is stable and stony for thee our land." In the night they can not fathom, they snatch their souls from profane concrete and the
San José, Saturday, July 8, 1995 |
Surviving Yourself At first sight, I had to reject I recall your coarseness, You alluded to a missing invitation, That was your reinvention of us. San José, Tuesday, April 15, 2008 |
Roses of Iraq San José, Wednesday, October 14, 1998 |
Goddess Samia Gamal Sie schafft ein immer lebendiges Bild von sich selbst. |
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Our gatherings to watch On all days,
when we rubbed her skin, She knew, seas and cities need our gifts; Anwar Al-Ghassani |
Click to view video - 1 |
Click to view video - 2 Please note that of video 1 only the first half is about Samia Gamal. Both videos are of moderate quality (what is available on You Tube). I hope I can get some videos of a superior quality at some point in time. |
NEW --- More Poems In Arabic Uploaded The background story: Due to my negligence and publishing difficulties this collection, written in 1993, remained sleeping among my papers during fifteen years. I didn´t even try to publish individual poems from the collection (perhaps with the exception of one or two). |
NEW --- Poem from 1992 in Arabic just uploaded "Sojourn At The Beach In Varna - Humorous And Entertaining For My Friends" Humorous poem, a homage to my friends |
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Second Patria - Poems - Recently published |
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46 poems, 76 pages, written in English about German themes. |
The collection is now available ($10.99) at: Description: Poems written in English by Iraqi poet Anwar Al-Ghassani as an homage to Germany, his second homeland, where he lived, studied and worked during three periods between 1967 and 1983. Those were years of his emotional and intellectual maturing and growth, of creative and happy times. They were also his years of the motorcycle and of explorations. These poems are also about reminiscences and about his almost yearly visits to Germany. They are about wonderful people, friends and places. Al-Ghassani writes poetry in Arabic, English, German and Spanish. |
Chinese Nude |
Nameless tree in the umbrage of dawn. O, no milk smell yet, only the promise of lips. * All is service to my nerves that like to be strained Dawn paleness, grey-warm torso, Caressing water, Rusty-red lips, one dark eye and an eyebrow, Anwar Al-Ghassani |
Autobiographical Photos of Anwar Al-Ghassani From Remote Times I have started writing the first part of my autobiography (The Iraq Years). These photos are a sample of many photos related to that period: - The photo where I am standing opposite to a street photographer was made when I was in the second year of the secondary school. The suit I have on was new, but it doesn´t look like new because the quality of the photo has deteriorated. I remember that I wanted to be photographed to celebrate the new suit. Place: Kirkuk. Date: 1950. - The photo of my father (with me, in shorts, to his right and my late brother Farouk to his left) was taken most probably between 1948-1949. Place: unknown, probably Kifri or Kirkuk. - Myself standing in what seems to be a field. Place: Kirkuk. Date: around 1965. - Myself standing in one of those cheap popular bars at Al-Bab Ash-Sharqi in Baghdad. Street photographers used to come to those bars asking people if they wanted to have photos. The name of the studio to which the photograper belonged can be seen down to the right. It reads "Studio Opera". It was one of those photo studios in Al-Bab Ash-Sharqi. Date: 1965-1968. |
See previous front page of this Website, the one which was pulled down on Monday, February 4, 2008 and replaced by this page. |
The Rupture In Iraq The past is folded, conserved and stored. The plains have finished expanding; I love the features of this land, I am not the savior. Anwar Al-Ghassani |
Previous Front Pages of this Website |
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