Poems That Do Not Sleep

Hassan Al Nawwab is a former Iraqi soldier who came to Australia after the war with his family 20 years ago. With devastating simplicity, these imagistic poems speak of war and terror, of homesickness in exile, the blessings of peace and the pain of belonging. The collection is in two parts, ‘Tree Flying’ and ‘Diaspora’, and each poem is presented with its counterpart in Arabic on the opposite page, as translated from English by the poet himself.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘It does not matter in which language one reads this collection, the poetry comes to life in an accessible and magical way.’ Writing WA

‘These are powerful poems … an important collection that bears witness to the experience of a war that has all too often been told exclusively from the vantage point of the occupying forces.’ Poetry Foundation