Salima Salih

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Salima Salih (Arabic: سالمة صالح; born 1942) is an Iraqi short story writer, translator and artist, from the city of Mosul. She is well known for her articles that advocates human rights, especially women's. She has published a lot of literary works, including "The Year of Cancer" novel, and "The Transformations" story collection. She wrote for "Alef Ba’" and  "Al-Shabab" magazines, and was nominated as one of the members of "Al-Multaqa Prize" committee for short Arabic stories.

Education[]

Salih grew up in an environment that encouraged her to read, explore, and express herself freely. Her mother was knowledgeable and, thus, taught her many languages, the names of flowers and herbs, and how to make a garden out of a wasteland. She, too, narrated children's tales, that helped develop Salih's creativity. Throughout her school years, Salih found inspiration in the works composed by of a lot of poets, including Marouf al-Rusafi and Hafez Ibrahim. She memorized hundreds of poetry, and took part in a number of poetry competitions. She then shifted to reading books, in which she read for various authors and in different genres. Few of these authors are Mikhail Naima, Abdulaziz Al-Qusi and Sigmund Freud. She read extensively and her pace picked up until she was able to finish reading around 300 pages per day. When she turned nineteen years old, Salih published her first story collection. Salih, too, loved acting, and wrote a play during her high school years, in which she acted in front of a large audience.^[1]

After graduating from high school, Salih enrolled in the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, where she studied painting in the year 1967, and music, in which she learned how to play the violin, in 1969. She studied music for a year and a half, after which she stopped due to the irregularity of lectures at the time, as well as her inability to reach the institute's new campus. In her sixties, Salih finished studying law at the University of Baghdad, and have written two plays, one of which she performed in and was displayed on the television. Additionally, she obtained her Doctorate degree in Journalism from University of Leipzig, in 1986, for her thesis "Global Trends in the Development of Social Media.^[1][2][3]”

Career[]

While studying at University of Baghdad, Salih held several positions in the field of journalism, and continued to work in the field for 16 years; namely, from 1961 till 1977. She wrote about freedom, defending women's right and their cry for liberation. In 1968, she was appointed as writer for "Alef Ba’" magazine, and for Al-Shabab" magazine a year later. Moreover, Salih contributed in establishing a number of social journalism ethics.

She then specialized in writing literary fiction and short stories, some of which were published in literary magazines, and had some of her short literary pieces of writing published in Al-Qandil magazine, while others were broadcast over the radio. She also wrote fictional and non-fictional stories for children and young adults. One of the reasons for her choosing to specialize in short stories was the scarcity of publishing houses at the time, which in turn endangered the prosperity of this form of literature, in specific. This meant that the press was solely responsible for publishing and promoting literature. Besides, readers preferred to spend their free time reading literary texts that were characteristically short in length. When Salih started writing, she adopted the traditional format to lay out her stories, which consisted of an introduction, body and conclusion. She later shifted to Philosophical Writings, and published her first story collection "The Transformations," despite the restrictions imposed on authors writing in this genre at the time.^[2][3][4] In 2016, Salih was appointed as a member of "Al-Multaqa Prize" for short Arabic stories committee, shortly after receiving Dr. Luay Hamzah's retirement letter stating his resignation from his position due to his deteriorating health condition.^[5]

Salih has translated her works into several languages including English, German, Spanish, Persian and Malayalam, as well as translated several books from German to Arabic.^[2]

Salih organized "Nawafid" exhibition, in which she displayed her digital paintings. Through her paintings, Salih set out to emphasize the different elements of nature, even the unpleasant ones, and make the invisible aspects of life visible.^[6] Salih believes that painting and writing poetry are closely interconnected, as her poems inspire the design of her paintings from one end, and that her paintings substitute poetry as a better form of expression from another end.^[1]

Works[]

Novels[]

• "The Revival" (original title: Al-Nuhud), Al-Mada Foundation for Media, Culture and Arts, Baghdad, 1974.
• "The Flower of the Prophets" (original title: Zahrat Al-Anbiya’), Dar Al-Mada for Culture and Publishing, Baghdad, 1994.
• "The Abyss" (original title: Al-Hawiyah), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2013.
• "The Year of Cancer" (original title: ‘Am Al-Sarataan), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2017. Divergent opinions were expressed regarding the classification of this novel. While Salih classified its genre as "personal experience," the poet, Fadhil Al Azzawi, believed it was more inclined to being a "novel". Even though the first two classifications seem appropriate, Salih suggested classifying her book as a "report," seeing that the book was an account of Salih's struggle with cancer. However, seeing that the book is more literary that biographic, it was agreed to classify the book as "autobiographical novel.^[7]”

Story collections[]

• "The Transformations" (original title: Al-Tahwulat), Arab Writers Union, Damascus, 1974.
• "Searching for Trenches" (original title: Al-ba’th ’An Al-Khalandiq), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2006.

Translations[]

• "Gnosticism in Islam" by Heinz Halm (translated title: Al-Ghunusiyah Fi Al-Islam), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 1982.
• "The Thirtieth Year" by Ingeborg Bachmann (translated title: Al-‘Am Al-Thalathun), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 1998.
• "The Friend's Script" by Barbara Frischmuth (translated title: Khat Al-Sadiq), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 1998.
• "Kassandra" by Christa Wolf (translated title: Kassandra), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 1999.
• "Experiences across the River: Women within the Jordanian and Palestinian Parliaments” by Angela Grünert (translated title: Al-Tariq Al-taweel: Al-Nisa’ Fi 'Awal Barlaman Filistini), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2000.
• "Medea . Voices" by Christa Wolf (translated title: Mediya . ‘Aswaat), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2001.
• "The Globalized Woman" by Christa Wichterich (translated title: Al-Mar’a w’Al-Awlamatu), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2002.
• "Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar" by Emily Ruete (translated title: Mudhakiraat Amirah 'Arabiyah), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2006.
• "On the Edge" by Markus Werner (translated title: Ala l’Munhadar), Dar Nefro for Publishing and Distribution, Cairo, 2007.
• “Theology and Society in the Second and Third Centuries of the Hijra” by Josef Van Ess (translated title: Elm Al-Kalam w’Al-Mujtama Fi Al-Qarnayn Al-Thani w’Al-Thalith Lil’Hijrah), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2008.
• The chapter, "The Mirage" (translated title: Al-Sarab) from “The 9/11 Events until the Arab Revolutions” novel by Thomas Lear (translated title: Ahdath 11 September Li’Ghayit Al-Thawraat Al-‘Arabiya), Goethe-Institut, Baghdad, 2011.

Other contributions[]

• Reviewed "Cat and Mouse" novel by Günter Grass (translated title: Al-Qit w’Al-Fa’r), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 1961.
• Designed the cover of "The Fifth Citadel" novel by Fadhil Al Azzawi (Arabic translation) (translated title: Al-Qal’a Al-Khamisah), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2000.
• Designed the cover of "Medea . Voices" by Christa Wolf (translated title: Mediya . ‘Aswaat), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2001.
• Designed the cover of "The Miracle Maker" book by Fadhil Al Azzawi (original title: Sane’ Al-Mu’jizat), BOA Editions, New York City, 2003.
• Organized "Nawafid" exhibition, Bayt Al-Geira, 9 Dec 2003 – 6 Feb 2004.
• Designed the cover of "The Office of Lost Dreams" poetry collection by Astrid Rayman (translated title: Maktab Al-Ahlam Al-Mafqudah).
• Designed the cover of “Paul Bowles, le Reclus de Tanger” book by Mohamed Choukri (translated title: Paul Bowles w’Azlatu Tanja), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2006.
• Photographed the cover photo of "The Fifth Citadel" novel by Fadhil Al Azzawi (English edition), American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, 2008.
• Designed the cover of "The Last of the Angels" novel by Fadhil Al Azzawi (English edition) (original title: Akhir Al-Mala’ika), Simon & Schuster, 2008, and (German translation), Dorelman Publishing House, Zurich, 2014.
• Designed the cover of "The Traveler and the Innkeeper" novel by Fadhil Al Azzawi (original title: Al-Musafir w’Sahib Al-Manzil), American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, 2011.
• Designed the cover of "The Ancestors" novel by Fadhil Al Azzawi (original title: Al-’Aslaf), Manshurat Al-Jamal, Baghdad, 2017.
• Designed the logo of "The Garden Poem," in Berlin.
• Designed the logo of Al-Hayat charitable society to help the children of Gaza, in Berlin.

References[]