Dunya Mikhail
Encyclopedia
Dunya Mikhail is an ethnic Chaldean United States
-based poet
who was born in Iraq
. Mikhail worked as Literary Editor for The Baghdad Observer. Facing increasing threats and harassment from the Iraqi authorities for her writings, she fled Iraq in the late 1990s and studied Near Eastern Studies at Wayne State University
. In 2001, she was awarded the United Nations
Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing.
Mikhail speaks and writes in Arabic and English. Her works include the poetry collection The War Works Hard, which won PEN's
Translation Fund award and was named one of the best books of 2005 by the New York Public Library, and the genre-bending work The Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals as well as anthologies including World Beat: International Poetry Now from New Directions, Flowers of Flame: Unheard Voices of Iraq, and Iraqi Poetry Today: Modern Poetry in Translation. She currently lives in Michigan
where she works as an Arabic instructor for Michigan State University.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
who was born in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Mikhail worked as Literary Editor for The Baghdad Observer. Facing increasing threats and harassment from the Iraqi authorities for her writings, she fled Iraq in the late 1990s and studied Near Eastern Studies at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
. In 2001, she was awarded the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing.
Mikhail speaks and writes in Arabic and English. Her works include the poetry collection The War Works Hard, which won PEN's
PEN American Center
PEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...
Translation Fund award and was named one of the best books of 2005 by the New York Public Library, and the genre-bending work The Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals as well as anthologies including World Beat: International Poetry Now from New Directions, Flowers of Flame: Unheard Voices of Iraq, and Iraqi Poetry Today: Modern Poetry in Translation. She currently lives in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
where she works as an Arabic instructor for Michigan State University.
External links
- Official Web site
- Griffin Poetry Prize biography
- Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip
- Boston Review - Poetry Microreview of The War Works Hard
- Dunya Mikhail profile on Words Without Borders Web site
- Dunya Mikhail interview and reading on National Public Radio (NPR)
- Dunya Mikhail's poem in Hindi translation