Salah Al-Hamdani (; born in 1951 in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

), is an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. Imprisoned as a

political dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, a ...

in the 1970s, he began writing in prison. Some of his writing was published in clandestine journals. He has continued to write, in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and in French, since moving to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where he been living for three decades. In his work, Al-Hamdani opposed

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's government, and subsequently the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

-led Occupation of Iraq. He is particularly known in France for his 2003 poem "Baghdad Mon Amour" ("Baghdad My Beloved"). Al-Hamdani also assisted Saad Salman in writing the dialogue of the latter's film '' Baghdad On/Off'', which he appeared in as an actor.

Sources

"Salah Al Hamdani"
''Le Printemps des Poètes'': biography and bibliography (in French) * Words Without Borders, '' Literature from the "Axis of Evil"'', , 2006, pp. 55–6: brief biography 1951 births Living people 21st-century Iraqi poets Iraqi dramatists and playwrights Writers from Baghdad Iraqi expatriates in France Iraqi Shia Muslims 20th-century Iraqi poets {{Iraq-writer-stub