{"id":36245,"date":"2021-06-20T19:48:57","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T15:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alowais.com\/?p=36245"},"modified":"2021-06-20T19:52:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T15:52:56","slug":"poet-lamia-amara-dies-aged-92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alowais.com\/en\/poet-lamia-amara-dies-aged-92\/","title":{"rendered":"Poet Lamia Amara dies aged 92"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lamia Amara, one of Iraq’s most revered poets, died on Friday in a California hospital after an illness.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was 92.<\/span><\/p>\n

A writer, columnist and cultural ambassador, Amara was known as one of the leaders of the Iraqi literary scene in the 1940s and a pioneer of the Arabic form of free verse poetry.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was renowned for her\u00a0poetry exploring social aspects of Iraq collected in\u00a0compilations including\u00a0The Empty Corner<\/em>\u00a0(1960),\u00a0They Call Him Love<\/em>\u00a0(1972) and 1980\u2019s\u00a0Had the Fortune-teller Told Me<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her death is\u00a0another\u00a0blow for Iraqi culture after\u00a0poet\u00a0Saadi Youssef<\/a>\u00a0died aged 87 in London last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

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News of Amara\u2019s death spread\u00a0across social media and was\u00a0followed by tributes from Iraq’s\u00a0leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We bid farewell to the great poet Lamia Amara,” Iraqi President Barham Salih wrote in a tweet that was accompanied by a portrait\u00a0of Amara.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We ask God’s forgiveness for her soul and patience for her generous family and her loved ones.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Iraqi Prime Minister\u00a0Mustafa Al-Kadhimi<\/a>\u00a0released a statement of condolence through the Iraqi News Agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iraqi people mourn the departure of the great Iraqi poet, Mrs Lamia Abbas Amara,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith this painful departure, an Iraqi palm tree has left our world, but it left rich shadows of wonderful poetry and an unforgettable contribution to Iraqi culture that successive generations will remember with pride and reverence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Iraq Minister of Culture\u00a0Hassan Nadhem praised Amara\u2019s contribution to the country\u2019s literary landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe was distinguished by her transparent poetry, deep passion and great love for her country and her people, despite her long forced separation from the homeland,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a unique voice among many shaping the modernity of the Iraqi poetic scene.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An Arab literary pioneer<\/span><\/h2>\n

Born in Baghdad in 1929 and raised in the central district of El Kureima, Amara was a member of Iraq’s Mandaean religious minority.<\/span><\/p>\n

She came from a family of creatives and craftsmen. Her uncle was\u00a0gold and silversmith Zahron Ammar, and her nephew the\u00a0poet Abdul Razzaq Abdul Wahed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amara began writing at an early\u00a0age and published her first poem at age 14\u00a0in\u00a0Al Sameer<\/em>, a\u00a0in New York founded by\u00a0Lebanese poet Elia Abu Madi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such was his enthusiasm for the piece, Abu Madi wrote an accompaniment and\u00a0declared\u00a0Amara\u00a0a talent to watch.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Her literary passions were further explored during her time at Dar Al Muallam Al Aliyah, a former college now known as the University of Baghdad.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Amara studied to be an educator it was through meeting groups of compatriots and fellow future\u00a0poets, including Badr Shaker Al-Sayyab, Nazik Al-Malaika and\u00a0Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati, that she dedicated her life to literature.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Through spirited debates and competition, this group of poets went on to lead\u00a0Shi’r Al Hurr, an Arabic version of the freewheeling and conversational free verse poetry movement, which traces its roots to France in the early 19th century.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celebrating the Iraqi dialect<\/span><\/h2>\n

The freedom found within the Shi’r Al Hurr went on to inform the boundless nature of Amara’s\u00a0writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was a lover of all facets of the Arabic language, with poetry and prose written in conversational, classical colloquial dialect.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it was the Iraqi folk genre of poetry she felt an affinity with the most.<\/span><\/p>\n

She credited the form\u00a0for allowing her to celebrate the dynamism of the Iraqi dialect and fostering a deeper connection with her audience.<\/span>
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