‘Brother Yasin’ in London

University College London provided the setting for an evening with ‘the Poet of Baghdad: readings by Nabeel Yasin’, an event organised and sponsored by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation which took place on 17th May 2007.

Nabeel Yasin’s story is a fascinating one. In 1994, in exile from his beloved country, the ‘poet of Baghdad’ published a volume of poetry including Brother Yasin, (written in 1974 and published to great acclaim in Egypt and the Lebanon) and its follow-up, a work which reflected the experience of exile. The following year, a single copy of the work was smuggled into Iraq. The poems spread by stealth, involving considerable courage on behalf of those involved, and becoming part of a body of work that represented the silent fight against the regime. His story has been told by author Jo Tatchell under the title ‘Nabeel’s Song’.

The event at UCL marked Dr. Yasin’s first public appearance since his return to Iraq, and in addition to the readings the audience had an opportunity to hear about this experience at first hand and then to meet the poet himself at the reception following.