The Utopians of Tahrir Square

October 2019 saw the start of a series of protests in the central and southern provinces of Iraq: demonstrations, marches, sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience. The protesters were attacked with live bullets, marksmen, hot water, hot pepper gas and tear gas, leading to many deaths and injuries.

Among those who took part in the Tahrir Square protest or witnessed it were written twenty-eight young Iraqi poets. An anthology gathered by the brilliant young poet, Sama Hussein, was published in Baghdad in January, 2021. Dr Anba Jawi and Catherine Davidson had already begun their own translating and editing of the work.

Some of the poets whose work features in this anthology were already well-established. Some, as young as 19, were just starting to publish their work. The young women poets are grouped together, as they are in the original anthology. This group of poets has faced both internal and external barriers to finding their voice, as explained in interviews included at the end.