Adnan al-Sayegh was born in al-Kufa, a city on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq in 1955 and is one of the most original voices from the generation of Iraqi poets known as the Eighties Movement. His poetry, crafted with elegance, and sharp as an arrowhead, carries an intense passion for freedom, love and beauty. Adnan uses his words as a weapon to denounce the devastation of war and the horrors of dictatorship. Adnan has published twelve collections of poetry, including the 550-page Uruk's Anthem (Beirut 1996) and the 1380-page The Dice Of The Text (Beirut, Baghdad 2022).
He left his homeland in 1993, lived in Amman, and Beirut then took refuge in Sweden in 1996. Since 2004 he has been living in exile in London.
He has received several international awards; among them, the Hellman-Hammet International Poetry Award (New York 1996), the Rotterdam International Poetry Award (1997) and the Swedish Writers Association Award (2005), and has been invited to read his poems in many festivals across the world.
The following collections of Adnan's poetry have been published:
1. Wait for me under the Statue of Liberty (Baghdad, 1984).
2. Songs on the Bridge of Kufa (Baghdad, 1986; Cairo, 2011; al-Kufa, 2021).
3. Sparrows don’t Love Bullets (Baghdad, 1986).
4. Sky in a Helmet (Baghdad, 1988; Cairo 1991 and 1996)
5. Mirrors for her Long Hair (Baghdad, 1992; Amman, Madrid, 2002; Sweden, 2020).
6. Cloud of Glue (Baghdad, 1993; Damascus, 1994; Cairo 2004; Riyadh 2022).
7. Under a Strange Sky (London, 1994; Beirut 2002; Cairo, 2006; Baghdad 2022).
8. Formations (Beirut and Amman, 1996).
9. Uruk’s Anthem – 550 Pages (Beirut, 1996; Beirut 2006; Beirut, Baghdad 2021).
10. To Cuddle My Exile (Sweden, 2001; Cairo, 2006; Baghdad, 2015; Bahrain, Canada, 2017).
11. And.. (Beirut, 2011; Baghdad, 2015; London 2022).
12. The Dice Of The Text – 1380 Pages (Beirut, Baghdad 2022).
The following collections of Adnan's articles have been published:
1. Requirements of the New Text followed by In the Garden of the Text (Beirut, 2008)
2. Reading & the Tomahawk followed by The Intellectual & Assassination (Beirut, 2010)
And he has been published in many languages:
1. Selections (Dutch), translated by Jaco Schoonhoven, (Netherlands, 1997).
2. Bajo Un Cielo Extranjero (Spanish), translated by Abdul H. Sadoun and Muhisin Al-Ramly (Spain, 1997).
3. Nagelskrift (Swedish), translated by Bodil Greek and Staffan Wieslander (Sweden, 1998 and 2000).
4. The Deleted Part (English), translated by Stephen Watts and Marga Burgui-Artajo, (United Kingdom, 2009).
5. Att Bära Sin Exil (Swedish & Arabic), translated by a number of translators, overseen by Arne Zaring, (Sweden, 2010).
6. Bombs Have Not Breakfasted Yet (English), translated by Dr. Abbas Kadhim and David Sullivan, (United Kingdom, 2013).
7. Now as Then: Mesopotamia-Iraq (English and Arabic) by Jenny Lewis and Adnan Al-Sayegh, (United Kingdom, 2013).
8. The poet who does not reach his letters to his homeland (Farsi), selected poems, translated by Mohammad Mehdi Nzad (Iran - Tehran, 2014).
9. Singing for Inanna (English and Arabic) by Jenny Lewis and Adnan Al-Sayegh (United Kingdom, 2014).
10. ‘’Le sommet est un puits’’ (French) The top is an over turned well, selected poems, translated by Dr. Mohamed Salah Ben Amor (France, 2015).
11. Pages From The Biography Of An Exile (English and Arabic) translated by Stephen Watts and Marga Burgui-Artajo (United Kingdom, 2016).
12. To Cuddle My Exile (English) translated by Jawad Wadi, Edited by V. Q. Phillips and J. Knight. (United Kingdom, 2016).
13. Ten Poems (English and Arabic) translated by Jenny Lewis and Alaa Jimaa illustrated by Kate Hazell (United Kingdom, 2016)
14. Banquete De Auisencias Extranjero (Spanish), Dirección editorial: ILIA GALÁN. Traducción de: Dr. Muhsin Al-Ramli, Abdul Hadi Sadoun, Raúl Jaime Gaviria, Roberto Mascaró, (ARS POETICA, Spain, 2017).
15. 10 Стихов (Ten Poems, in Russian, English, and Arabic, with illustrated by Kate Hazell, Russian translated by Natalya Dubrovina (Mulfran Press 2018).
16. ‘Let Me Tell You What I Saw’ Extracts from Uruk's Anthem (English and Arabic) editor and co-translator by Jenny Lewis (Seren Books- Cardiff /UK 2020)
17. Ce que la mer révèle de mon silence " (French and Arabic) translated by Fatma Ben Fdhila (Edition Wachma – Tunisia 2020)
His poetry has also been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Danish, German, Italian, Kurdish, Norwegian, Hebrew, Hindi, Polish, Romanian, and Hawaiian.
Adnan is a member of the Iraqi and Arab Writers Unions, the Iraqi and Arab Journalists Unions, the International Journalist Organization, the Swedish Writers Union, the Swedish Pen Club, English PEN Writers and Exiled Writers Ink in UK.
Adnan has read with the British poet Stephen Watts at Exiled Writers Ink, The Poetry Café, White Chapel Gallery, Beyond Words, The Mosaic Rooms, The library Barbican, The National Portrait Gallery in London, Trinity College Literary Society - Cambridge, Write Angle poetry, Petersfield, Scotland World Poetry Festival St. Andrews – Edinburgh, Britain. The Poetry International Festivals with English PEN Writers at South Bank Center - London.
Their latest work in English and Arabic is Pages from the Biography of an Exile, published by Arc, 2016.
Adnan has read and worked with the British poet Dr. Jenny Lewis on a programme of workshops and readings at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford then at the British Museum, London, Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London and the Iraqi Cultural Centre in the UK. Also in Sweden, Morocco and Egypt. This resulted in three pamphlets in English and Arabic –published by Mulfran Press. Their last book ''Let Me tell you What I saw'', Extracts from ''Uruk’s Anthem'' was published by Seren Books, October 2020; edited, translated and introduced by Jenny Lewis.
Adnan has read and worked with the British poet Dr. Jenny Lewis (who teaches poetry at Oxford University) on a programme of workshops and readings at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford then at the British Museum, London, Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London and the Iraqi Cultural Centre in the UK. Also in Sweden, Morocco and Egypt. This resulted in three pamphlets in English and Arabic –published by Mulfran Press. Their last book ''Let Me tell you What I saw'', Extracts from ''Uruk’s Anthem'' was published by Seren Books, October 2020; edited, translated and introduced by Jenny Lewis with others.
adnan2000iraq@hotmail.com
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