Coming Up

2025: Where Do You Live? تعيش؟  

Cowritten and Co-translated by Jennifer Jean, Dr. Hanaa Ahmed, and Wadaq Qais.
Forthcoming from Arrowsmith Press

As part of the Arrowsmith Press Featured Poet Series, Jennifer Jean described the history and process that led to this forthcoming book:

“Dr. Hanaa Ahmed and I are both members of the HER STORY IS collective, a group of Iraqi and American artists who promote projects that expand linguistic, artistic, and cultural boundaries in response to global conflict, with a focus on centralizing the experience of women. For a long time, we were the only two in the group whose primary art was poetry. We wanted to know each other, but, after three years of kind notes and news of publications and prizes, we didn’t really know each other.

“In 2020, we decided to communicate more purposefully, to write ‘poem responses’ to each other’s lives and work as a way of answering the question: ‘Where do you live?’ We didn’t only mean where we lived geographically, but also where we lived in regards to our moods, obsessions, regrets, tragedies, delights, etcetera. We stepped up our communications via Zoom, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger and shared as much as our hearts would allow.

“Hanaa told me, ‘I was born in the war. I grew in the war. I’m still in the war.’ I told her my father was absent my whole life because he suffered PTSD and schizophrenia as a result of his combat in the Vietnam War. She said she writes what she calls ‘prose poetry,’ which eschews classic Arabic forms for a more natural way of speaking. I said it sounds a lot like what I would call ‘free verse.’

“Through our co-translator Wadaq Qais, we spoke carefully and wrote figuratively. We also worked with Wadaq to co-translate each other’s poems. This co-translation process added another level of intimacy to our exchanges because we had to consider each other’s words more carefully than we would otherwise. We were required to consult an expert in each other’s language since both of us are mono-lingual. This has been a slow knowing! A quiet dance. We shared about how we compose and revise our poems, about how poets make themselves immortal.

“Hanaa once told me, ‘A poet’s life is fated.’ This is true. I believe our friendship is fated too. And, I know we both hope readers enjoy the poems in our forthcoming, collaborative collection Where Do You Live? أين تعيش؟ and that they feel a part of what has been a life-changing relationship.”

Dr. Hanaa Ahmed was born in Mosul, Iraq. She is a prize-winning poet and short story writer who has participated in critical conferences and international poetry festivals. She has a PhD in Arabic Literature. Her books include the poetry collections My Sorrow’s Reward from His Collar and Zahr (Flowers), as well as two books of criticism: The Dialectic of Poetry and Prose in Modernist Poetry, and The Poetics of the Prose Poem. Additionally, she’s released a children's book: Sultan and Shanidar. Hanaa teaches at the University of Mosul.

Wadaq Qais was born in Basra, Iraq. She received a degree in accounting in 2021. Later, she found her true calling in the Translation Department at the University of Basra, College of the Arts, where she is completing her studies. Reading provided her a gateway to other worlds, allowing her to broaden her perspective and expertise in the disciplines of both literary and business translation.  

2026: Other Paths for Shahrazad: a Bilingual Anthology of Poetry by Iraqi Women

Poetry anthology edited by Jennifer Jean
With an introduction by Elham Al-Zabaidy, a founding Iraqi member of the HER STORY IS collective
Forthcoming from Tupelo Press

About HER STORY IS

HER STORY IS, a collective led by independent women writers and artists from the United States and Iraq, promotes projects aimed at expanding linguistic, artistic, and cultural boundaries in response to global conflict and its aftermath, with a focus on centralizing the experience of women.

HER STORY IS produces exhibitions, anthologies, scholarly articles, panel discussions, theater productions, and a semi-annual residency in the Middle East. We believe our process transforms established power structures, creates new grounds for learning, and builds a community of equals across borders.HER STORY IS is the latest in a series of collaborations and exchanges, begun in 2010 by playwright Amir Al Azraki and artist Anne Loyer, that have brought together artists and scholars from the United States, Iraq, and other parts of the Middle East.

In fall 2017, four U.S. women artists and four Iraqi women artists began communicating via Skype, email, and blogging about their art, their lives, and the relation of their art and lives to their countries and the world. The artists included Jennifer Jean, Anne Loyer, Amy Merrill, Hana’ Ahmed Mohammed, Mary Mohsen, Thaira Al Mayyahi, Lillie Paquette, and others. The workshop and exchanges were supported by the creative contributions and translation of scholar and writer Nadia Sekran, playwright Amir Al Azraki, and filmmaker Dina Fadil. 

That December, seven of these artists and three translators met in Dubai, a location accessible to all. Over five days, each participant offered a workshop and told her personal story. At this face-to-face encounter among women from two countries divided by war and geography, the participants laughed and cried a lot. All felt that the face-to-face meetings and the experience of discovering common and divergent experiences, was an invaluable step in building new relationships as individuals and artists between two countries separated by war and geography.

After the artists and coordinators left Dubai, they reaffirmed their commitment to continuing the relationships and laying the groundwork for a series of collaborative projects in both countries. Since then, teams creating specific works have met regularly. Women artists in both countries have continued to participate via emails, Facebook posts, Skype and What’s App calls. They have prepared public exhibits and performances, undertaken new initiatives, and engaged in other projects growing out of the collaborative work.

Read a Summary of HER STORY IS Work

"Finding a Common Language: Iraqi and US Women Seek Reconciliation in Dubai," by Nadia Abdulridha Sakran AlEsi, graphic by Thaira al-Mayyahi, introduction by Amy Merrill, Journal of Middle Eastern Women’s Studies, Vol. 15, No. 3 (November 2019).

Past HER STORY IS Events
in Iraq and the United States

October 29 and October 30, 2024: Her Story Is member Thawra Yousif and supporter Amir Al Azraki participated in a Symposium on Black Iraqi Heritage and the African Presence in the Middle East and Indian Ocean, at the University of Illinois. Click here for more information.

October 8 and October 9, 2024: HER STORY IS welcomed Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail to Somerville and Salem, Massachusetts.

February 16, 2024: A Reading of Elham Al-Zabaidy's No More of Stories of Seagulls, Brandeis University.

March 2, 2024: With our partner the Center for Arabic Culture, Her Story Is promoted the performance by actor/playwright Najya Said at the First Church in Boston.

March 5, 2023: Where Do You Live? Creative dialogue between Iraqi and American women, with new works in poetry, theater, visual art, and film. Featuring Elham Nasser Al-Zubaidy & Amy Merrill; Hanaa Mohammed & Jennifer Jean; and Thawra Yousif Yaqoub & Letta Neely. Visual artwork by Thaera Al Mayahi, Elham Al-Zubaedy, Angham Nasser Al-Zubaidy, Jinan Muhammed, Nawrast Sabah. Produced by Her Story Is, the Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project, and the "Today and Tomorrow" initiative. This event commemorated the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq and the 16th anniversary of the car bombing of Baghdad’s literary district. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston

March 8, 2023: What Do the Women Say? In celebration of International Women’s Day, Golden Thread’s annual program featured the work of Middle Eastern women artists fighting against injustice through their art. Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th Street, San Francisco, CA. 

Sunday, March 12, 2023: We Are the Clouds: Poems and Creative Dialogue from Women that Carry. Featuring artists of the HER STORY IS collective and poet Dunya Mikhail. Open Book, 1011 South Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, MN. In Arabic: https://reconciliationproject.org/today-tomorrow-arabic

October 8, 2022: Afro-Iraqi Rituals: Co-sponsored by the Iraqi-American Reconciliation Project and the Lotus Women Cultural League, a panel discussed Afro-Iraqi rituals and resistance in the face of increasing stigmatization and discrimination in Iraq.

February-April 2022: Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: The Mariposa Museum in Peterborough, NH, exhibited prints and broadsides by artists who are part of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here coalition. The Coalition is a group of visual artists, poets, and playwrights, dedicated to remembering the 2007 bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street (street of booksellers in Baghdad, Iraq) and to celebrate the importance of writing and culture everywhere.

April 3, 2022: Unframing the Narrative: US and Iraqi Artists in Conversation: HER STORY IS artists Letta Neely and Thawra Yousef read their work and discussed the connections between their Afro-Iraqi and African-American worlds, centering their conversation about resilience, family, and stratagems of disenfranchisement that have affected them both. At Mariposa Museum.

Celebrating Women’s Day 2022

March 12: Celebrating Women’s Day 2022: Women from Middle Eastern countries celebrated, virtually, the beauty and resilience of women and their writing. In Arabic, English, and French. Hosted by Lotus Women Cultural Federation (Basra, Iraq) with the participation of HER STORY IS (Iraq and US) and Renison University College (Canada). View the video of the event the right.

May 14, 2021: HER STORY IS at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, "Her Story Is: in English and Arabic": Featured: poets Kirun Kapur and Jennifer Jean and translator Dima AlBasha. Click here to view this session on YouTube.

September 2020: “The Effect of War on Artistic Collaboration Between Iraqi and U.S. Women Writers.” Featured HER STORY IS artists and area scholars. Click on the poster at right to view this panel discussion on YouTube.

March 2020: HER STORY IS partners with the Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project in observing the 13th anniversary of the 2007 bombing at Al-Mutanabbi Street (street of booksellers) in Baghdad. On March 5, 2007, a car bomb explosion wounded more than 100 people and killed more than 30.

Spring 2019: Multiple HER STORY IS events in Iraq in Basra, Mosul, and Suleimaniyah. Our Iraqi partners led a series of events in Sulaymaniyah and Basra. Thaira al-Mayahy and others participated in a Culture and Dialogue workshop, involving participants from all eight religions in Iraq.

May 2019: Poems by Hana’ Ahmed Mohammed, Jennifer Jean, and others in “Unpacking Iraq,” a special issue of Consequence magazine

Spring 2019: Visual artist Thaira al-Mayyahi led a HER STORY IS event in Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Spring 2019: Poems co-translated by Jennifer Jean and Amir Al-Azraki for the HER STORY IS poetry anthology in The Common, along with a translator’s note

February 2019: Her Story Is Translated, a public presentation in Boston, featuring a poetry reading, a report on HER STORY IS events in Iraq, and a report about the HER STORY IS playwrights’ initiative

Winter 2018-2019: A poem co-translated by Jennifer Jean and Amir Al-Azraki for HER STORY IS poetry anthology appear in Talking Writing Magazine

October 2018: Translation event led by Hana’ Ahmed Mohammed, University of Mosul. 2018. She produced "The Diary of a Fugitive Drop of Tea," a video-poem for an October 2018 HER STORY IS event on translation at the University of Basra in Iraq. The poem is by Hana' Ahmed Mohammed, translated from Arabic into English by Mahmoud Nowara and Julia Gettle, and read in English by Jennifer Jean.  

June 2018: Art Exhibit and Presentations: Atlantic Wharf, Boston, Massachusetts, and Arts at the Armory, Somerville, Massachusetts. Click here to view photographs from the "Her Story Is" production.

June 2018: Legislative Theater Workshop: “Saving the Joiner,” William Joiner Institute, University of Massachusetts, Boston

May 2018: Presentations at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem, Massachusetts

March 2018: Writing Workshop in Iraq in collaboration with the Lotus Women’s Cultural League and Basra University, Basra Iraq

February 2018: Radio Al Rasheed Interview, Basra, Iraq

January 2018: Life writing workshop, led by scholar/translator Nadia Sekran, Basra, Iraq

December 2017: HER STORY IS five-day workshop, Dubai, Arab Emirates

HER STORY IS: PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

HER STORY IS continues a series of ongoing collaborations of Fort Point Theatre Channel with a number of partners and sponsors in Iraq and the United States. Partners have included UMass Boston’s Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences, the University of Basra, the Center for Arabic Culture, the Odysseus Project, and playwright Amir Al-Azraki and, of course, the Iraqi American Reconciliation Project.

Project support has come from Boston Properties/Atlantic Wharf, the South Boston Community Development Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Boston Cultural Council,

For 2019-2020, HER STORY IS was funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.