Saadi Youssef

Saadi Youssef is considered one of the most important contemporary poets in the Arab world. He was born near Basra, Iraq. Following his experience as a political prisoner in Iraq, he has spent most of his life in exile, working as a journalist and activist throughout North Africa and the Middle East. He is the author of over 30 books of poetry, including Nostalgia, My Enemy, translated by Sinan Antoon and Peter Money (2012); Without an Alphabet, Without a Face: Selected Poems, translated by Khaled Mattawa (2002); and 51 Poems (1958). He has also published two novels and a book of short stories. Youssef lives in London, where he is a leading translator of English literature into Arabic. He has translated works by many major writers, including Walt Whitman, Federico García Lorca, C.P. Cavafy, Vasko Popa, and Giuseppe Ungaretti.