Fadhil al-Azzawi

was born in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, in 1940. He has a BA in English Literature from Baghdad University and a PhD in Journalism from Leipzig University. He edited literary magazines and newspapers in Iraq and abroad and has been publishing his poetry since the 1960s. He has published numerous volumes of poetry, six novels, one collection of short stories, two works of criticism and many translations from English and German into Arabic. His poetry has been translated into several languages. He is a contributing editor of Banipal magazine.

Khaled Mattawa’s translation of his poetry collection In Every Well a Joseph is Weeping won QRL’s international poetry book competition in 1997.

In 2003 BOA Editions (USA) published Miracle Maker: Selected Poems of Fadhil Al-Azzawi, trans. and intro. by Khaled Mattawa. He left Iraq in 1977 and has settled in Germany.

Fadhil al-Azzawi's novels are only now being translated into English. His Last of the Angels (translated by William M Hutchins is reviewed by The Complete Review – click here to go to the review.

On 11 July 2010,Fadhil al-Azzawi will be at the Ledbury Poetry Festival with fellow Iraqi poet Sinan Antoon, talking about the importance of poetry in Iraqi cultural life and reading from his works. For all details click here

His novel Cell Block Five, excerpted in Banipal (made into a successful film in Syria in the 1970s) is now published in English translation by William M Hutchins. To read the review by The Complete Review, click here.