Reel Iraq

When my neighbour on the train asked me where I was heading, I smiled. ‘Iraq’, I replied, noting the surprise on his face. Silence. Then, ‘what would a young lady be doing going to Iraq?!’ I explained that, no, I was not in the army, but that I was going to a mountain village in Kurdistan with some Iraqi and Scottish poets. They would translate each other’s poems into their respective languages and present the new works at the Erbil Literature Festival, and then at the ‘Reel Iraq’ festival back in the UK. More silence. Then, ‘… but do they read anything other than the Koran over there?’.

However upsetting his response, the conversation reminded me why we, as an organisation, decided that our fifth festival should be ‘Reel Iraq’. Reel Festivals collaborates with artists working in areas of conflict to celebrate diversity, build solidarity and create dialogue with audiences internationally. Through live events and festivals, we explore alternative stories and aim to challenge stereotypes. March 2013 marked the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Media representation too often gives a negative and damaging portrayal of the country and its people – small wonder people come to such conclusions about the reading culture of Iraq.

By way of response, Reel Iraq brought four days of poetry, film, music, workshops, exhibitions and panel discussions to nine cities across the UK. We wanted to celebrate the resilience of the people and the diversity of culture throughout the protracted conflict. Places of culture are often among the first victims of tyranny and war. Once a place synonymous with literary invention, the last few decades have seen Baghdad become a place of censorship and fear. But Iraqis both inside and outside the country continue to create, to engage and to play. Iraq is not just the one-time ‘cradle of civilisation’, Iraqi culture is alive today and we wanted to share it.

The poems presented here are a selection of the literary outcomes from Reel Iraq’s workshops in Shaqlawa, Kurdistan in January 2013. Four Scottish poets (John Glenday, Jen Hadfield, William Letford and Krystelle Bamford) met with four Iraqi poets (Zaher Mousa, Ghareeb Iskander, Awezan Nouri and Sabreen Kadhim) to create ‘versions’ of each other’s poems, working off literal ‘bridge’ translations. The new works produced - in Arabic, Kurdish and English - not only share the essence of the original poet, but also convey new cultural resonances in the corresponding language. They became acts of friendship and solidarity; the translation of each poet’s reality. Yet despite the obvious differences in each poet’s physical environment, the works themselves demonstrate the shared experience of poetry which transcends national boundaries and languages. These poems tell us stories of war, but also of lousy boyfriends and the elusiveness of time.

All of the Reel Iraq poems and translations will be available in a forthcoming collection by Freight Books entitled This Room Is Waiting: Poems from Iraq and Scotland. Iraq and its people may still be waiting for peace and justice, but meanwhile its people continue to play, innovate and create realities of their own through poetry and the arts. We owe much to Iraq’s contribution to our own ‘civilisation’ and, I believe, we still have much to learn.

• Right of Retreat
• Zaher Mousa (bio)

or Everyman’s Guide to Beginning Again

How about it?We shatter ourselves against the mirror?Peel back our skin like banana-skins?Snuff out the light which forces us to witness?And forget each room as we abandon it?How about it?We hand in letters of resignation to our wives?And bags of jelly-baby Daddies-and-Mummies for the kids?And for our folks, a copy of Kafka’s ‘Die Verwandlung’?And then abandon the house?How about it?We use our scuffing shoulders to rub out those faces chalked on the alley walls?Wear down flagstones to cover our own tracks?Give stupid nicknames to the avenues, the statues, the High Street stores?And finally abandon the city?How about it?We conflate Standard English and jibberish?Lift pen from beloved paper - Juliet lost to her...