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Daisy Al-Amir ( ar, ديزي الأمير), often referred to as simply Dayzi Amir, is an Al-Amir, The Waiting List, University of Texas Press
/ref> She is author o
The Waiting List: An Iraqi Woman's Tales of Alienation
has renowned her as one of the leading female writers of Iraq.
Arab personalities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amir, Daisy 1935 births Living people People from Basra 20th-century Iraqi poets Iraqi women poets Iraqi people of Lebanese descent 20th-century Iraqi writers 20th-century Iraqi women writers 21st-century Iraqi writers 21st-century Iraqi women writers
Daisy Al-Amir ( ar, ديزي الأمير), often referred to as simply Dayzi Amir, is an Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i writer, poet and novelist./ref> She is author o
The Waiting List: An Iraqi Woman's Tales of Alienation
has renowned her as one of the leading female writers of Iraq.
Biography
Daisy Al-Amir was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1935 to an Iraqi father and a Lebanese mother. Her family did not stay in Egypt for very long, moving to her father’s homeland Iraq when she was only a few weeks old. After earning herBachelor’s Degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...
from the Teachers’ Training College of Baghdad, Daisy al-Amir went to Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
to study and write her thesis on Arabic Literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...
. Her father refused to pay tuition, however, and on her trip home, she stopped in Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
where she found a job as a secretary in the Iraqi embassy. She chose to remain in Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. She was eventually promoted to the job of Assistant Press Attaché.
In 1975, when the civil war broke out in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, she was appointed director of the Iraqi Cultural Center. She returned to Iraq in 1982 after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Her stories reflect women’s experiences during turbulent times in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
including during the Lebanese civil war
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
, and during the rise to power of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
in Iraq. Daisy al-Amir is the author of five published works including: Al Balad al-Baid Alladhi Tuhibbuhu (The Distant Country that You Love), 1964, Thumma Tauda al-Mawja (Then the Wave Returns), 1969, Fi Dawwamat al-Hubb wa al-Karahiya (In the Vortex of Love and Hate), 1979 and Wu'ud li-l-bay' (Promises for Sale, 1981) about the Lebanese civil war, and Ala la’ihat al-intizar, (The Waiting List: An Iraqi Woman’s Tales of Alienation), 1994.
Here the alienation is that of a cultural refugee, a divorced woman who is educated, affluent, and alone.
Al-Amir's prose is influenced by a long tradition of Iraqi poetry.
Bibliography
* ''The Waiting List: An Iraqi Woman's Tales of Alienation'' * ''An Andalusian Tale'' * ''The Distant Country that You Love'' * ''Then the Wave Returns'' * ''In the Vortex of Love and Hate'' * ''Promises for Sale''References
External links
Arab personalities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amir, Daisy 1935 births Living people People from Basra 20th-century Iraqi poets Iraqi women poets Iraqi people of Lebanese descent 20th-century Iraqi writers 20th-century Iraqi women writers 21st-century Iraqi writers 21st-century Iraqi women writers