Seven Years On: Preserving Literary Heritage THE VIDEO!

23 June '14

On March 5th, across the world, events took place to commemorate the bombing of Al Mutannabi Street in Baghdad.

The Arab British Centre was proud to present an afternoon of poetry readings and discussion on the seventh anniversary.

In March 2007, tragedy struck the heart and soul of Baghdad’s cultural and intellectual community. Al Mutanabbi Street was destroyed by a car bomb which killed over thirty people and wounded more than one hundred. The winding street filled with bookshops and outdoor stalls has for centuries been a meeting place for poets, political dissidents and literary aficionados, and is named after the famous 10th century classical Arab poet, Al-Mutanabbi.

On the anniversary of the attempt to silence the free voice of literature and books, The Arab British Centre and Banipal were pleased to bring together individuals working in the industry, to support and celebrate the significance of independent publishing and bookselling.

Helping to place the bombing in its wider context, was a discussion with London-based publishers and booksellers; Margaret Obank, co-founder of Banipal; Barbara Schwepke, founder of Haus Publishing and bookshop BookHaus; Ghassan Fergiani, founder of Darf Publishing, Dar Fergiani and bookshops including West End Lane Books; chaired by journalist Brian Whitaker.

To coincide with the discussion, the Iraqi actress, Dina Mousawi and Syrian actor Ammar Haj Ahmad performed poems by Saadi Youssef from the anthology Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here. Photographs of Al Mutanabbi Street were projected throughout, portraying the energy of the bookselling community before and the tragedy after the bombing.

We hope you enjoy this recording, and feel free to share it as you wish!