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Contributor

Nazik al-Mala’ika

Contributor

Nazik al-Mala’ika

Nazik al-Mala’ika was born in Baghdad in 1923. Both a poet and a literary critic, she published over fifteen volumes of poetry, prose, and criticism since her diwan appeared in 1947. Her second volume of poetry, Ashes and Shrapnel, published in 1949, helped to inaugurate formally the free verse movement, perhaps the most influential movement in modern Arabic poetry to date. Her innovative style and sharp critical sense made her one of the Arab world’s most well-known poets.

Articles by Nazik al-Mala’ika

New Year
By Nazik al-Mala’ika
New Year, move on. There is the path / to lead your footsteps.
Translated from Arabic by Rebecca C. Johnson
2023-February-Love-Song-for-Words-Al-Malaika-Johnson-Feature
Valentine Puzzle Purse, Anonymous, British or American, 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mrs. Richard Riddell, 1981.
Love Song for Words
By Nazik al-Mala’ika
Why do we fear words? / If their thorns have once wounded us, / then they have also wrapped their arms around our necks / and shed their sweet scent upon our desires.
Translated from Arabic by Rebecca C. Johnson