L e t t e r F r o m A f a r
(Est. 1992)
No. 25 - Thursday, December 29, 2005
Personal bulletin of Iraqi poet
Anwar Al-Ghassani
News,
ideas, thoughts, reflections and workshop report
(LFA is a private letter
sent to friends only. If at any time, for whatever reason, you
want to be removed from my mailing list, please do not hesitate
to notify me. If later you want to resume receiving the letter,
please notify me and I will be pleased to add you again to the
list. Thank you.)
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Dear friends,
This letter informs about my ongoing literary and academic production,
activities and events until the end of July 2006. The annex includes
some highlights of my recent stay in Germany.
In addition
to being an informational medium, this letter is also a planning
and organization instrument and a register of finished, ongoing
and forthcoming work and projects. It is meant to be a flexible
reminder and memory support and not a formal plan with rigid deadlines
and determinants.
My best
wishes for all your festivities and celebrations.
A happy
and successful New Year.
Thanks for
your friendship.
Best wishes,
Anwar Al-Ghassani
University of Erfurt, Germany, one of the oldest and
youngest German universities. It was founded in 1392, shutdown
in 1816 and reopened in 1995.
The photo, taken in October 2005, shows the modern university library,
the cafeteria. On the
Right (white building) a partial view of the Faculty of Philosophy
where I worked. The photo does not
reflect the full beauty of the campus on those sunny and transparent
October days. This western side
is open and free. The green space in foreground is only a strip of
a huge wonderful empty space that extends backwards up to the
avenue leading to downtown Erfurt.
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Content
1. Homelands,
Peoples, Places
2.
The Proactive Self, Growth & Learning
3. Literary
Production Projects
4. Academic
Production Projects
5. Publishing,
Website, Promotion
6.
Travels, Invitations & Conferences 2006
7.
Family
8. Final
Words
9. Annex
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1. Homelands, Peoples, Places
Iraq: Another ten to
fifteen years of the same?
Although
we make all efforts to tell them the truths that should benefit
them in the first place, they never stop accusing us of things
they fabricate in their perverse fantasy and disseminate world-wide
through their obedient and evil big media. Here are some of those
truths:
1. We repeat
and repeat that we Iraqis are people of culture. We follow the
principle of respecting all other peoples and their cultures.
We love and respect the hardworking and decent American people
and appreciate and admire the American culture, and that our total
or partial disapproval of all or some policies of the US administration
should not be used to create lies and to accuse us of being anti-Americans
by nature.
2. Even
without the occupation of Iraq
by Coalition armies, Iraq
has multiple problems and Iraqis may resort to violence and kill
each other. It is true that Iraqis have to learn how to co-exist
with each other.
However,
despite all that, currently the occupation is the main problem
in Iraq.
3. The US and
its coalition partners should understand that it is now too late
for “cut and run” tactics. They cannot leave Iraq even if they wanted to. They
should seek the approval of all Iraqi parties and groups to extend
their stay and give themselves the opportunity to work with Iraqis
to overcome the chaos they themselves have created since April
9, 2003. They have to cooperate with the Iraqis and elaborate
a plan for this purpose. The plan should also envisage ways for
compensating Iraq
for the enormous human and materials losses.
The Coalition
armies, the occupying power, created the current chaos because
of their scandalous incompetence and/or because of their hidden
agenda. They are responsible according to international law to
help eliminate the current chaos. Only when they have complied
with this responsibility they should be allowed to leave.
This is
not fantasy. This is practical politics.
*
The next
3-6 months will determine where Iraq
will be heading to. Frequently, the whole situation in Iraq resembles
a tragic and bloody farce. How many interpretations are out there
for the magic word “democracy”. Sometimes Iraq seems not to be ready for democracy.
Almost every political party has its own interpretation of democracy.
Insurgents, resistance fighters, terrorists, warlords, foreign
agents, local gangs and mafia, organized crime are all constructing
their safe havens “democratically” and destroying
the country´s unity. They all pretend to be the true representatives
of their closed areas where they want to establish their own republics,
including a theocratic one in the south.
The other
misunderstood concept is “federalism”. Basrah wants
to be independent under federalism because the political mafia
is intoxicated with the smell of oil; the Kurdish warlords are
running around with the flag of their unannounced state. Why this
flag you may ask, well, they say, they are preparing themselves
just in case things go wrong elsewhere in Iraq – pure opportunism and
disregard of the solidarity and the many sacrifices of all Iraqis
in support of the national rights of Iraqi Kurds throughout decades
of modern Iraqi history. They find it acceptable to turn their
backs to the suffering of other Iraqis in this tragic hour of
Iraqi history.
Until now
and despite the scandalous constitution that favors the creation
of a theocracy in Iraq, there is
no effective power sharing formula. Current leaders of Iraq are a bunch of infantile egoists. Each one wants to have
a state according to his vision. In a multinational country like
Iraq,
how can you build a modern functioning state with such people.
Until now
Iraq has no visionary
politicians and no inspiring leader a la Nelson Mandela. No
wonder that in a recent poll 51 per cent of Iraqis thought Iraq needs a strong
man.
It is unlikely
that the Coalition will follow the polls and free Saddam Hussein
and let him be the “democratically” elected president
of Iraq so that he can put the house
in order and reign
over the chaotic and bloody republic we now have. But what would
the Coalition do if zealous leaders exploit religious feelings
and use their majority in parliament to declare – democratically
- Iraq as a theocratic state.
Such is
the current misery of Iraq.
I personally think that many direct and indirect players in the
Iraqi game would love to maintain Iraq
unstable. I do not think that Iraq will become a theocracy, but
I do expect that we will have more of the same of what we have
been getting since April 9, 2003, chaos and violence, for the
next ten to fifteen years until all the quarreling factions get
exhausted and realize that they are damned to live together, until
wisdom descends on the stubborn heads of the representatives of
the current political class. In others words, after the bloody
journey they will return to the starting point.
But if this
will be the inevitable result after years of mutual killings,
why don´t these people, leaders and the mob on the streets,
just understand this simple fact and reach an accommodation now
while they are still at the starting point?
The answer:
human stupidity.
Note: during
the past few days, thousands of Iraqis have been demonstrating
in Iraqi cities calling for national unity and territorial integrity
of Iraq. This is a promising development.
2. The Proactive Self, Growth & Learning
“Control”
The more
I learn to accept passionately and willingly the others as they
are and to give advice only if I am asked to, the more I discover
the beauty of interpersonal relations and the vast wealth an another
human being represent. This soft “control”, in fact,
the expansion of myself, brings richness and unlimited options
and opportunities. At times, I get “lost” and do not
know what to do with so much beauty and value. Of course, my poetry
needs beauty and is capable of processing it. Poetry needs such
depth to become readable and worthwhile.
But, above
all, I am aware that such discovered and acquired richness (interiorized
and made one´s own) contributes to self-improvement, to
the idea: love is limitless and you are on the right way towards
more love.
In eternal
opposition
Sometime
during this year I came to realize that throughout my life I have
been applying the principle of eternal opposition to almost everything
established as fixed and constant organization and think model
in human life, particularly in politics. For instance, a party
is an organization. The moment it is launched it becomes an establishment
and a thing of the past and should be changed. In fact, everything
in human life should be subject to permanent change to keep pace with life.
Thus, applying
this principle to Iraqi politics, I would say that I am in opposition
to everything called politics. However, this does not exclude
appreciating good achievements provided that we understand that
even these achievements must be subject to change the moment they
are put into practice.
Poetry is
nonconformist by its very nature. It is probably the most liberal,
anti-dogmatic, flexible, concrete and pro-freedom of all arts.
Also in poetry and as a poet, to be in eternal opposition to everything
established is, I believe, the soundest position to assume.
3. Literary Production Projects
Note: the projects mentioned and discussed
here are the main and/or the most urgent ones because of deadline
considerations. Minor projects are not mentioned.
Literary
Writing
Main
Projects
German
Poems
Definition
/Language /Deadline
Poems about
Germany
and poems with German themes and setting written in English.
Language:
English.
Deadline:
February 2006
Status
I have made
much progress during the past few months in completing this collection.
I have negotiated with BookSurge Publishers, an online publishing
division of Amazon.com, the publication of the collection as a
book-on-demand, an interesting way to escape the dictatorship
of the Mafia of conventional book publishers.
I am also
considering a translation to German immediately after finishing
the English original.
Iraq-II
Collection
Definition
/Language /Deadline
Poems about
Iraq with strong reference to the current situation
in Iraq.
Language:
Arabic.
Deadline:
July 2006
Status
The time
for writing this work has finally arrived. I have already written
few poems for this collection. I expect to have a collection of
about 100 pages.
Secondary
Projects
Essay:
The Miracle of Medellín – Impression from the XV.
International Poetry Festival of Medellín, June 24 –
July 2, 2005
Definition
/Language /Deadline
Essay about
my participation in the Festival.
Language:
Spanish.
Deadline:
June 2006.
Status
Unfortunately,
I was unable until now to write this essay, a 2005 project. I
am moving it to 2006. I hope to finish it until June 2006.
German
Diary A Posteriori
Definition
/Language /Deadline
Diary entries
and thoughts about my Sept.-Dec. 2005 stay in Germany. I already have some entries
written during my stay, others will be added a posteriori. I will
insert these entries in my Blog. Later, I intend to publish the
diary as a separate work.
Language:
English.
Deadline:
January-July 2005
Status
Initiating.
Declaration
of Iraqi Poets About Iraq
Definition
/Language /Deadline
A declaration
about the current situation and the future of Iraq.
I am trying
to get two other Iraqis poets to sign the declaration with me.
If I do not succeed I will write it, sign it and distribute it
as a one-man declaration.
Language:
English.
Deadline:
February-March 2006.
Status
Initiating.
Anthology
of Modern Iraqi Poetry
Definition
/Language /Deadline
Anthology
of modern Iraqi poetry. Selected poets. Editors: Anwar Al-Ghassani
and Mouayed Al-Rawi. There is a fair possibility for publishing
the anthology in Costa Rica and
Argentine simultaneously.
Language:
Spanish
Deadline:
May 2006.
Status
Initiating.
4. Academic Production Projects
Note: the projects mentioned and discussed
here are the main and/or the most urgent ones because of deadline
considerations. Minor projects are not mentioned.
Main Projects
CICM
– Contemporary Iraqi Culture And Media
Definition
/Language /Deadline
Research
project 2005-2006. This is my research project at the University
of Costa Rica.
Language:
Spanish.
Deadline:
Dec. 31, 2006.
Status
The project
is at the end of its first year. It will be continued and finished
in 2006.
Secondary
and Forthcoming Projects
- Writing
a proposal for a new research project (2007-2008), probably on
new communication forms, types and genres of the new media on
Internet platform.
Another
idea – still vague – is to explore communication procedures
on Internet from a theoretical computer science perspective.
- Writing
a proposal for my next sabbatical leave project in 2007. Probably
this project will be in the general area of interaction between
new media, multimedia, Internet and poetry/literature.
5. Publishing, Website, Promotion
The Publishing
Drama
- Online
publishing for poets
BookSurge.com,
an Amazon.com company, is offering poets a package for publishing
their books online as books-on-demand. In average, the inclusion
of a book of ca. 100 pages in BookSurge system costs the poet
around $849. If the poet is lucky and there is demand for his
book he may be able to recuperate his investment and may even
make some additional money through royalties .
I have already
negotiated with BookSurge the publication of my German Poems.
If the experiment succeeds, I will publish more poetry books with
them.
Encrucijadas
de la
Comunicación Social. Terceras Jornadas
de Investigación, 9-12 de mayo 2006. Serie Identidad Cultural
Latinoamericana. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica (English/Spanish,
forthcoming, May 2006).
.
As in the
past, I have little time to dedicate to my website: http://al-ghassani.net
I try to
maintain and update it as time permits.
Two recent
highlights:
The first,
the photo marquees on the opening page is attracting attention.
Whenever there is an event, I create a photo marquee and upload
it. The previous marquee is added to a list of previous marquees
that can be accessed from the first page. Please have a look at
the current marquee featuring photos from a get-together with
Arab and German friends at a restaurant after my poetry recital
in Leipzig on December 6.
The second,
the new subdomain: http://iraq.al-ghassani.net
Dedicated
to my current research of Iraqi culture and media. I am working
to add more info and documents to this subdomain.
Promotion
& Public Relations
Poetry needs
promotion and public relations to bring its content, message and
effect to the general audience, but I feel terrible about doing
such work that demands time and dedication. As a poet, I am not
willing to invest time I need for writing in “announcing”
my work.
Of course,
visibility and public attention are important, above all –
at least as far as I am concerned – in getting your poems
published. Visibility yes, but not at any price. It is not unusual
to see poets almost begging to be included in recitals and other
public appearances. This has never been my style. I avoid such
activities as far as I can, but it is not always possible to avoid
them completely. Of course, I am grateful to the wonderful people
who attended my December 6 recital at the University
of Leipzig,
but I still believe that the best reception would be through reading
in private and not through my reading in public. (See some recital-related
photos at the opening page of my website:
http://al-ghassani.net )
I hope that
when my German Poems are published by Booksurge.com and included
in their promotion system this would help to make my work reasonably
visible.
6. Travels, Invitations & Conferences
2005
This year
was remarkable. I participated for the first time in two poetry
festivals, in Costa Rica: the
IV. International Poetry Festival of San José,
and in Colombia:
the XV. International Poetry Festival of Medellín, June
24 – July 2, 2005.
I had two
important trips, the first to the Colombian festival, the second
to Germany where I had a research stay
(Sept. 23 – Dec. 19) and worked on my project on contemporary
Iraqi culture and media.
2006
-
Participation in May in the Research Week at my School of Mass
Communication
Sciences (ECCC), University of Costa Rica.
-
Participation in the XVI. International Poetry Festival of Medellín,
around July, 2006.
- Vacations
in Germany –
July 2006.
2007
-
Sabbatical leave – first half of the year. I hope this can
be combined with a stay in
Germany to do the academic sabbatical
leave project and at the same time to work on a
literary project (finishing a poetry book)
using a grant from a foundation promoting
literary production.
-
Participation in the 27th World Congress of Poets,
Sept. 20-26, 2007, Romania
(following a kind invitation from my dear
friend Romanian poet and WCP president
Dorin Popa)
7. Family
My family
in Costa Rica is
doing well.
After
my return from Germany on Dec. 19, we are again united: my wife
Ana Mercedes, Manuel Salam, Munira Cristina who came back for
short vacations from Mexico
on Dec. 17. We will be together until Munira returns to Mexico after a
couple of weeks to finish her year of specialization.
My family
in Iraq
is doing well as far as the current difficult conditions permit.
I have
many family members in Iraq,
a brother and two sisters and their children. They live in Kirkuk
in the north, in Baghdad,
and in Al-Imara, in the south.
I received
many phone calls and photos in recent days from my brother and
many nieces and nephews. It was a beautiful experience to talk
to so many young people whom I have never met and who only know
me as their faraway uncle.
It looks
like we are ushering a new era in our family relations after all
the past years of political turbulence and lack of communication.
I am hopeful that despite the current difficult situation in Iraq,
the coming months and years will bring us closer to each other.
Reunion
in Berlin or San José
I am already
thinking of organizing a family reunion in July 2006 or later
either in Berlin or in San
José. I expect that of the dozens
of persons that comprise now our family in Iraq
some will be able to travel to participate in the reunion. I will
soon start making contacts and explore options.
8. Final Words
What else?
Life goes
on, a mixture of joy, pain, hope and suffering. To this beauty
and wealth poetry and the arts adds more, not of the same, not
by copying and not even by interpreting life but rather by keeping
us trying to create, on the basis of life itself, cultural values
of beauty that give life a human, broader and deeper meaning.
This will
always be what art aspires to.
Life goes
on, so our projects, plans and work, always towards that superior
meaning and a more civil and richer inter-human life.
But in midst
of this joyous creation there will always be those moments when
you will pause and feel that inexplicable and mysterious pain
and you would say: oh, why, why.
That is
the sign for not being able to achieve completion and fulfillment,
that will always remain an unattainable goal. That is in the nature
of being alive. Between joyous creation and the enigma of that
slight ambiguous pain is the region of what is vulgarly called
“happiness”.
Then, on
the next days, life will continue again, Life goes on, always
and endlessly.
With my
best wishes,
Anwar Al-Ghassani
9.
Annex
Highlights
From My Research Stay in Germany
The following
highlights, though relevant, do not cover all the expanse of diverse
and rich information, knowledge and experience I gained during
my recent stay in Germany. They
should be considered as illustration examples.
Thanks to
a generous grant and permission from
the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the University of Costa Rica,
I worked as guest researcher at the
Universität Erfurt from Sept. 23 to December 10. I returned to Costa Rica on Dec. 19.
During
my stay I worked at the Lehrstuhl Kommunikationswissenschaft/
Mediensysteme/ Kommunikationskulturen (LKMK) of the Universität
Erfurt. I lived mainly in Berlin
and shuttled between Berlin and
Erfurt. I also undertook
several trips to Leipzig, Dresden and Neuruppin.
I worked
on behalf of my Escuela de Ciencias de la Comunicación
Colectiva (ECCC) of the Universidad de Costa
Rica within the framework of my research Project on contemporary
culture and media in Iraq.
Assignment
My main
assignment was to collect information and materials about the
subject matter of my research, make contact and talk to German
faculty and researchers, explore the opinion and thinking of Iraqi
intellectuals residing in Germany and establish contacts with
Iraqi institutions of culture and media.
People
Many wonderful
people supported me during my stay in multiple ways. The list
is long but I would like to point out to the contribution of Prof.
Dr. Kai Hafez, head of the
Lehrstuhl
Kommunikationswissenschaft/ Mediensysteme/ Kommunikationskulturen
(LKMK) of the Universität Erfurt who gave the first approval
for my research stay and generously permitted me to work in his
office and use his hand library. During my stay
he was on assignment at the University of Oxford, UK. Invaluable
and kind was the organizational and operative support of my dear
colleague MA Carola Richter of the Lehrstuhl as well as the help
I always received from Mrs. Annett Psurek, the Lehrstuhl secretary.
My special
thanks to Prof. Dr. Joachim R. Höflich, who kindly invited
me to talk to his students about mobile communication and to Dr.
Maren Hartmann with whom I had a productive conversation about
the perspectives of cooperation between the Lehrstuhl and our
Escuela de Ciencias de la Communicación
Colectiva. We want to stay in contact and explore
further cooperation opportunities.
During my
visits to Leipzig, I was fortunate
to have the unlimited support of my dear friend MA Atef Botros
of the Orienlatisches Institut at the Universität Leipzig.
Atef is a candidate to doctor and expert on the reception of Franz
Kafka in the Middle East. He
tirelessly organized contacts and meetings that benefited my work
enormously, and last but not least organized with the friends
from the Verein Arabischer Studenten und Akademiker (VASA) my
poetry recital at the Orientalisches Institut on Decemebr 7.
I also had
the opportunity to again meet his wonderful family.
I would
also like to express my special thanks to VASA members: Aiman
Mubarak, Dr. Omar Kamil, Walid Abd El Gawad, Najat Abdelhaq Effenberg
and Nazar Saeed for their kind reception and generosity.
My dear
friend Dr. Omar Kamil benefited me enormously with his analysis
of the situation in the Middle East and his personal experiences.
In addition,
I like to thank my dear friend poet Dr. Adil Karasholi for the
reception at his cosy home in Leipzig
and the rich conversation about the Middle East, poetry, Syria
and Iraq.
I am grateful
to my friends Horst and Lenore Grothe who not only received me
in their beautiful home in Wuthenow but drived me as far as Teetz
to search for books in the “largest bookshop for used books
in the whole state of Brandenburg”.
My special
thanks to architect Sabih Al-Hamdani of the Iraqi Al-Rafidain
Culture Club in Berlin and Dr. Kadhim Habib who were instrumental in organizing
the Forum of Iraqi intellectuals in Berlin.
Last but
not least, my deepest thanks to my lifelong friend poet Mouayed
Al-Rawi and his wife writer Fakhriya Salih in Berlin
for their extreme generosity and invaluable overall support. During
my long and frequent discussions with Mouayed I benefited enormously
from his vast knowledge, sharp analysis of the Iraqi situation,
his sense of uncompromising realism and from his unlimited friendship.
Selected
Activities and Events
Of the host
of activities related to my research, I would like to underline
three activities:
- Talk on
Nov. 9 about mobile communication to students of
Prof. Dr. Joachim R. Höflich at the Lehrstuhl Kommunikationswissenschaft,
Universität Erfurt, following a kind invitation by him.
- Talk/lecture
on Dec. 6 about my research to an audience of faculty and students
at the Lehrstuhl Kommunikationswissenschaft, Universität
Erfurt.
- Forum
of Iraqi intellectuals at the Iraqi Al-Rafidain Culture Club in
Berlin on Dec.11. The eight participating intellectuals
discussed a number of issues: interaction between politics, culture
and media in Iraq;
Iraqi democracy, Iraqi identity and the current violence in Iraq.
The discussion
was frank, thorough and well-organized. Almost four hours of discussion
were recorded on tape.
Shipping
Materials and Books
At the end
of my stay, it took me several days to ship by surface mail the
materials, books and the research archive.
Primary
Assessment and Research Reports
The research
stay was dense, rich in information, activities and knowledge.
With few exceptions, all planned goals and objectives were achieved.
During January
2006 I will write and submit two reports about my work in Germany, one to DAAD with a copy for
the Lehrstuhl, a second for the Dean of my Escuela de Ciencias
de la Communicación
Colectiva (ECCC) and a third for the Research
Commission of the ECCC.
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Dr. Anwar Al-Ghassani
Iraqi Poet
Professor of Journalism, Computer-mediated Communication &
Internet
School of Mass Communication Sciences
University of Costa Rica
Post Address:
Apdo 823,
2050 San Pedro Mts Oca,
Costa Rica
Phone: 506 234 0813, 506 283 9773 (home)
Mobile: 506 375 5011
Fax: 506 292 7136 (home)
alghassa@racsa.co.cr
Websites of Al-Ghassani Network:
http://al-ghassani.net
(Official Personal Portal of Anwar Al-Ghassani)
http://manuel.al-ghassani.net
(Website of Manuel Salam Al-Ghassani)
http://internet-center.al-ghassani.net
(Internet Center Munira Sayyed Tahir)
http://iraq.al-ghassani.net
(Research Project: Contemporary Iraqi Culture And Media)
http://academia.al-ghassani.net
(Academic Activities At The University of Costa Rica)
http://literature-arts.al-ghassani.net
(Iraqi, Arab And International Poets, Writers, And Artists)
http://al-ghassani.net/blog
(official blog)