Synopses & Reviews
Deftly sketched, simple and poetic, Dreaming of Baghdad drags politics down from the realm of the abstract into the mud, fear, and loneliness of personal experience and psychological ruin that is life under dictatorship. This is a landscape of clandestine struggle and crushing political defeat, of familiar old streets and the alienating structures of exile. Zanganas story is heartbreaking, but her clarity and resilience inspire awe.”Christian Parenti
In 1970s Iraq, the Ba'ath Party was at the height of its influence in the Middle East and popularity throughout the West. But a group of activists recognized the disastrous potential of the regime as its charismatic leader, Saddam Hussein, became more powerful. Haifa Zangana was among those resisters, a small group of whom were captured and imprisoned at Abu Ghraib.
From the distance of time and place, Zangana writes during her first years of forced exile from her beloved country about the time of her incarceration, the agonizing loss of comrades to torture and death in prison, the haunted quality of life so far away from home and family, and the ways in which memory conspires to make us forget what sometimes is most dear to us.
Haifa Zangana was just eight years old in 1958 when Iraqis flooded the streets to celebrate their newfound, hard-won freedom from British colonial rule. She came of age in one of the most open societies in the Middle Eastuntil it was shut down in the 1970s by the Ba'ath Party. She was imprisoned for her opposition to Saddam Hussein, and since her release has been living in exile in London. She writes regularly for the Guardian and al-Ahram Weekly, and is the author of many books, including City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance.
Ferial J. Ghazoul has been a professor in the department of English and comparative literature at the American University in Cairo since 1979. She is also a co-founder and editor of Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics.
Review
Written with passion and commitment, Dreaming of Baghdad invoked my own dreams, and the joys and pain that memory can bring. A must-read.”
Nawal El SaadawiHaifa Zangana illuminates the dark realities of Saddam Hussein's Iraq while remembering what she misses from that complex place and time.”Sharnush Parsipur
Haifa Zangana proves once again that the act of writing can be truly liberating.”Dalia Said Mostafa
How poorer the world would have been without Haifa Zangana's courageous testimony. Drop anything you are reading and grab hold of a copy of this magnificent book.”Hamid Dabashi
Praise for City of Widows:
"Zangana writes with indignation of the recent hijacking of her country." Time Out New York
"This angry, unforgiving and powerful book is as vital as it is hard to swallow." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"What left me quaking was the power of internal perspective and history that she offers, and her informed explanations of both policy and practice." Feminist Review
"The book is an extraordinary and well-written criticism of the occupation of Iraq."Adventures in Reading
Synopsis
"With passion and commitment," an exiled Iraqi woman recounts her time organizing resistance to Saddam Hussein and imprisonment in Abu Ghraib (Nawal El Saadawi, author of Zeina).
In 1970s Iraq, the Ba'ath Party was at the height of its influence in the Middle East and popularity throughout the West. But a group of activists recognized the disastrous potential of the regime as its charismatic leader, Saddam Hussein, came to power. Haifa Zangana was among those who resisted Saddam's rule, a small group of whom were captured and imprisoned at Abu Ghraib.
Now, from a distance of time and place, Zangana writes about her incarceration, the agonizing loss of comrades to torture and death in prison, her safe yet haunted life so far away from friends, family, and her beloved country, and the ways memory conspires to make us forget.
In this poetic, emotionally-tinged memoir, the author of Women on a Journey: Between Baghdad and London "drags politics down from the realm of the abstract into the mud, fear, and loneliness of personal experience and psychological ruin that is life under dictatorship" (Christian Parenti, author of The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq).
Synopsis
This evocative memoir captures the loneliness of exile and the connection between memory and survival.
Synopsis
Literary Nonfiction. Middle East Studies. Memoir. In 1970s Iraq, the Ba'ath Party was at the height of its influence in the Middle East and popularity throughout the West. But a group of activists recognized the disastrous potential of the regime as its charismatic leader, Saddam Hussein, became more powerful. Haifa Zangana was among those resisters, a small group of whom were captured and imprisoned at Abu Ghraib. From the distance of time and place, Zangana writes during her first years of forced exile from her beloved country about the time of her incarceration, the agonizing loss of comrades to torture and death in prison, the haunted quality of life so far away from home and family, and the ways in which memory conspires to make us forget what sometimes is most dear to us.
About the Author
In the 1970s,
Haifa Zangana was imprisoned and tortured for actively resisting Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. A journalist, artist, and activist, Zangana is the author of
The City of Widows and co-founder of Solidarity for an Independent and Unified Iraq. She contributes to the
Guardian,
Red Pepper, and
Al-Ahram Weekly and writes a weekly column for
Al Quds. Ferial J. Ghazoul has been a professor in the department of English and comparative literature at the American University in Cairo since 1979. She is also a co-founder and editor of
Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics.