Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: Poets and Writers Respond to the March 5th, 2007, Bombing of Baghdad's "Street of the Booksellers"

by Beau Beausoleil (Editor), Deema Shehabi (Editor)

Overview

On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than thirty people were killed and more than one hundred were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. Named after the famed 10th century classical Arab poet al-Mutanabbi, it has been the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. This anthology begins with a historical introduction to al-Mutanabbi Street and includes the writing of Iraqis as well as a wide swath of international poets and writers who were outraged by this attack.

This book seeks to show where al-Mutanabbi Street starts in all of us: personally, in our communities, and in our nations. It seeks to show the commonality between this small street in Baghdad and our own cultural centers, and why this attack was an attack on us all. This anthology sees al-Mutanabbi Street as a place for the free exchange of ideas; a place that has long offered its sanctuary to the complete spectrum of Iraqi voices. This is where the roots of democracy (in the best sense of that word) took hold many hundreds of years ago. This anthology looks toward al-Mutanabbi Street as an affirmation of all that we hope for in a more just society.

Contributors include: Beau Beausoleil, Musa al-Musawi, Anthony Shadid, Mousa al-Naseri, Naomi Shihab Nye, Deena Metzger, Sam Hamod, Lutfiya Al-Dulaimi, Zaid Shlah, Persis Karim, Ayub Nuri, Marian Haddad, Sarah Browning, Eileen Grace O’Malley Callahan, Roger Sederat, Elline Lipkin, Esther Kamkar, Robert Perry, Gloria Collins, Brian Turner, Gloria Frym, Owen Hill, Abd al-Rahim, Salih al-Rahim, Yassin “The Narcicyst” Alsalman, Jose Luis Gutierrez, Sargon Boulus, Peter Money, Sinan Antoon, Muhammad al-Hamrani, Livia Soto, Janet Sternburg, Sam Hamill, Salah Al-Hamdani, Gail Sher, Dunya Mikhail, Irada Al Jabbouri, Dilara Cirit, Niamh MacFionnlaoich, Erica Goss, Daisy Zamora, George Evans, Steve Dickison, Maysoon Pachachi, Summer Brenner, Jen Hofer, Rijin Sahakian, Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, Jane Hirshfield, Jack Marshall, Susan Moon, Diana di Prima, Evelyn So, Nahrain Al-Mousawi, Ko Un, Joe Lamb, Katrina Rodabaugh, Mohammed Hayawi, Nazik Al-Malaika, Raya Asee, Gazar Hantoosh, Mark Abley, Majid Naficy, Lewis Buzbee, Ibn al-Utri, Thomas Christensen, Amy Gerstler, Genny Lim, Saadi Youssef, Judith Lyn Suttton, Josh Kun, Dana Teen Lomax, Etel Adnan, Bushra Al-Bustani, Marilyn Hacker, Richard Harrison, Fady Joudah, Philip Metres, Hayan Charara, Annie Finch, Kazim Ali, Deema K. Shehabi, Kenneth Wong, Elmaz Abinader, Habib Tengour, Khaled Mattawa, Rachida Madani, Amina Said, Alise Alousi, Sita Carboni, Fran Bourassa, Jabez W. Churchill, Daniela Elza, Linda Norton, Fred Norman, Bonnie Nish, Janet Rodney, Adrienne Rich, Cornelius Eady, Julie Bruck, Kwame Dawes, Ralph Angel, B.H. Fairchild, Terese Svoboda, Mahmoud Darwish, Amir el-Chidiac, Aram Saroyan, Sholeh Wolpe, Nathalie Handal, Azar Nafisi, Dima Hilal, Tony Kranz, Jordan Elgrably, devorah major, Suzy Malcolm, Ibrahim Nasrallah, Rick London, Sarah Menefee, Roberto Harrison, Fadhil Al-Azzawi, Amaranth Borsuk, Lamees Al-Ethari, Shayma’ al-Saqr, Meena Alexander, and Jim Natal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604865905
Publisher:	PM Press
Publication date:	08/20/2012
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Beau Beausoleil is a poet and bookseller in San Francisco, California. His latest book is Concealed in Language. He is the founder of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition.

Deema Shehabi is the author of Thirteen Departures from the Moon. Her work has appeared in various journals and anthologies including Inclined to Speak: Contemporary Arab-American Poetry, The Kenyon Review, Drunken Boat, Literary Imagination, The Poetry of Arab Women, Poetry Review (London), and Wasafiri. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart prize four times, and she served as Vice-President for RAWI, the Radius of Arab-American Writers, Inc.

Table of Contents

Introduction Beau Beausoleil vii

Preface Muhsin al-Musawi ix

I The River Turned Black with Ink

The Bookseller's Story, Ending Much Too Soon Anthony Shadid 3

A Man in Love with Knowledge Mousa al-Naseri 8

For al-Mutanabbi Street Naomi Shihab Nye 12

The Last Word Deena Metzger 13

The Grief of Birds Sam Hamod 15

Al-Mutanabbi Street Lutfiya al-Dulaimi 16

Occident to Orient Zaid Shlah 21

Ways to Count the Dead Persis M. Karim 24

Al-Mutanabbi Street Ayub Nuri 25

Qasida, My Father Spoke at Funerals, Ways to Raise the Dead Marian Haddad 28

Girls in Red on Page One Sarah Browning 30

Al-Mutanabbi Street Eileen Grace O'Malley Callahan 31

Abridged Qasida for al-Mutanabbi Street Roger Sedarat 34

Al-Mutanabbi Street Elline Lipkin 36

Fragment, in Praise of the Book Meena Alexander 37

An Ordinary Bookseller Esther Kamkar 38

What Prayer Robert Perry 39

Marianne Moore in Baghdad Gloria Collins 40

The al-Mutanabbi Street Bombing Brian Turner 42

In Perpetuity Gloria Frym 44

Against the Weather (for al-Mutanabbi Street) Owen Hill 45

Dead Trees Yassin "The Narcicyst" Alsalman 47

Elegy for al-Mutanabbi Street José Luis Gutiérrez 50

The Letter Has Arrived Sargon Boulus 52

Al-Mutanabbi Street Peter Money 53

Voices Surround & Fade: The Hooded One Peter Money 54

A Letter to al-Mutanabbi Sinan Antoon 55

Escape from al-Mutanabbi Street Muhammad al-Hamrani 57

into the lizard's eyes Lilvia Soto 61

After Rumi Janet Sternburg 67

To Salah al-Hamdani, November, 2008 Sam Hamill 68

Thirty Days after Thirty Years Salah al-Hamdani 70

Excerpt from Blue Gail Sher 71

A half-burned page on al-Mutanabbi Street Dunya Mikhail 72

My Days Lack Happiness and I Want You Irada al-Jabbouri 73

Remnants Dilara Cirit 79

Ashes Niamh macFhionnlaoich 80

The Color She Wears Erica Goss 81

No Man's Land Daisy Zamora 82

On al-Mutanabbi Street George Evans 83

The Friend Steve Dickison 84

The River Turned Black with Ink Maysoon Pachachi 85

II Knowledge is Light

Matter and Spirit on al-Mutanabbi Street Summer Brenner 91

Untitled Jen Hofer 93

Untitled Rijin Sahakian 96

Rain Song Badr Shakir al-Sayyab 98

The Poet Jane Hirshfield 102

"Close to God" Jack Marshall 103

A Book in the Hand Susan Moon 104

Revolutionary Letter #77 Awkward Song on the Eve of War Diane di Prima 107

Al-Mutanabbi Street Evelyn So 110

Ethics of Care: The Retreat of al-Mutanabbi Nahrain al-Mousawi 114

A Secret Question Ko Un 117

The Road to al-Mutanabbi Street Joe Lamb 118

Untitled Katrina Rodabaugh 120

For I Am a Stranger Badr Shakir al-Sayyab 121

Untitled Mohammed Hayawi 122

Excerpt from Five Hymns to Pain Nozik al-Malaika 123

Al-Mutanabbi Street Raya Asee 125

Attention Saadi Youssef 127

Destinies Gazar Hantoosh 128

A Book of Remedies Mark Abley 129

On the Booksellers' Street of Baghdad Majid Naficy 132

Crossroads Lewis Buzbee 134

Untitled Ibn al-Utri 137

Remembering al-Mutanabbi Thomas Christensen 138

On Ashurbanipal's Library Amy Gerstler 141

III Gathering the Silences

In the Valley of Love Genny Lim 147

Night in Hamdan Saadi Youssef 148

Burning Judith Lyn Sutton 149

Luis and Celso on al-Mutanabbi Street Josh Kun 150

Lullaby Dana Teen Lomax 154

I Recall al-Sayyab Mahmoud Darwish 155

Country of Large Rivers Etel Adnan 156

The Murderer Bushra al-Bustani 157

GHAZAL:Daral-Harb Marilyn Hacker 159

A Home on al-Mutanabbi Street Richard Harrison 161

Proof of Kindness Fady joudah 162

Hearing of Alia Muhammed Baker's Stroke Philip Metres 163

Prayer for the Living Hayan Charara 164

Interpenetrate Annie Finch 166

The Contract Kazim Ali 167

Curves in the Dark Deema K. Shehabi 168

The Booksellers of Pansodan Kenneth Wong 170

The Proper Purgation Elmaz Abinader 175

In the Country of the Dead Habib Tengour 177

Adolescence of Burnt Hands Khaled Mattawa 181

From Tales of a Severed Head Rachida Madani 182

Untitled Amina Said 185

What Every Driver Must Know Alise Alousi 188

Explosion Sita Carboni 190

Letter to My Childhood Friend, the Baghdad Car Bomber Fran Bourassa 191

Chrysalis Jabez W. Churchill 193

Al-Mutanabbi Street: Foot Notes after the Fire Daniela Bouneva Elza 194

Poppies Are Not (Enough) Daniela Bouneva Elza 195

Psalms and Ashes Linda Norton 196

Black and Red Fred Norman 199

Nazik al-Malaika Fred Norman 201

Al-Mutanabbi Bonnie Nish 202

Random Bonnie Nish 203

The Twisted Janet Rodney 204

Tonight No Poetry Will Serve Adrienne Rich 205

The Blues Sat Down on al-Mutanabbi Street Cornelius Eady 206

March 9, 2007 Al-Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad Julie Bruch 207

The Secret Carpentry Kwame Dawes 208

Blackouts Ralph Angel 210

Moth B.H. Fairchild 211

Baghdad Callsby Terese Svoboda 212

They Didn't Ask: What's After Death Mahmoud Darwish 213

The Airport of Language Amir el-Chidiac 214

Rocks Aram Saroyan 216

April Stork Saadi Youssef 217

Solos on the Oud (#3) Saadi Youssef 218

See Them Coming Sholeh Wolpé 219

Love Song Sholeh Wolpé 220

Until the Glaciers Melt Sholeh Wolpé 221

Tonight Nathalie Handal 222

One (for al-Mutanabbi Street) Beau Beausoleil 223

The Timeless Legacy of al-Mutanabbi Street Azar Nafisi 224

The Sudden Cessation of Electricity Dima Hilal 229

Market Forces Runon Tony Kranz 231

Freedom to Walk Jordan Elgrably 232

Untitled devorah major 235

Words Suzy Malcolm 237

The Last Supper Ibrahim Nasrallah 238

The Celebration Ibrahim Nasrallah 239

A Special Invitation Ibrahim Nasrallah 240

Circle of Prey Rick London 241

Its First Smell Sarah Menefee 242

Automatize Roberto Harrison 244

Verses for Everyday Use Fadhil al-Azzawi 248

Paper Elegy Amaranth Borsuk 252

311 and Counting Lamees al-Ethari 253

A Very Short Letter Shayma' al-Saqr 255

The Street of the Poet Jim Natal 264

Contributors 266

Acknowledgments 289

Editorial Reviews

This anthology celebrates the exquisite relationship between the book and the reader, humanity and culture, writing and life and love. It is a tribute to a street that grows into a large and archetypal symbol and spatial metaphor for books.”
—Muhsin al-Musawi, professor of Arabic and Comparative Studies at Columbia Universityand editor of the Journal of Arabic Literature

“The collection of materials in this anthology is astounding and harrowing. Beausoleil and Shehabi have put together a book that will be adored by lovers of poetry, essays, journalism, and testimony. It will also be required reading for anyone interested in social justice.”
—Steven Salaita, associate professor of English, Virginia Tech University

“Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here has brought together a stellar group of authors to write about a time and place: the destruction of Baghdad's famed al-Mutanabbi Street, when on March 5, 2007, the cultural spaces of bookstores, libraries, and cafes frequented for centuries by the Iraqi literary community were bombed. This is a wonderful and exceptionally moving anthology and a compelling collection of poetic and historical merit.”
—Susan Slyomovics, professor of anthropology and Near Eastern languages, UCLA

“Propaganda reigns when there are no natural alliances of self-defense, when image-makers — poets, novelists, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, and artists—have no personal relationships with their counterparts across zones of conflict. Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here steps directly into this vacuum, holding the mirror of resistance directly to our acquiescent eyes, reminding us that before the invasion of Iraq there were sanctions, that before the sanctions there was Saddam Hussein, part of an elaborate web of U.S. supported and inspired totalitarianism that has kept the peoples of the Middle East in a stranglehold for a good part of the 20th century. This extraordinary collection asks us to account for our lack of resistance, and to begin learning just what it might mean to resist.”
—Ammiel Alcalay, chair of Classical, Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures at Queens College

From the Publisher