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Ali Ja'far al-Allaq

アリー・ジャアファル・アル＝アッラーク

Ali Ja'far al-Allaq

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1945-01-01 （Kut, Wasit Governorate, Kingdom of Iraq）
Nationality
Iraq
Languages
Arabic, English
Residence History
Kut (birthplace) → Baghdad (education and work) → United Kingdom (study at Exeter) → Sana'a (worked at Sana'a University) → United Arab Emirates (worked at UAE University)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Literary critic, Academic
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Al-Mustansiriya University (faculty), Baghdad University (faculty), Sana'a University (faculty), United Arab Emirates University (faculty)
Memberships
General Union of Arab Writers, Union of Iraqi Writers, Association of Literary Critics in Iraq

Education

Al-Mustansiriya University
Arabic Literature
Degree: BA
Period: 1969–1973
Year of Graduation: 1973
Country: Iraq
BA in Arabic Literature
University of Exeter
Criticism and Modern Literature
Degree: PhD
Period: 1980–1984
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: United Kingdom
Doctorate in Criticism and Modern Literature

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Lā shayʾ yaḥduth — lā aḥad yajīʾ (Nothing Happens — No One Comes)

1973 Poetry collection

An early poetry collection exploring personal and social alienation.

alienationlonelinessexistence

Waṭan li-ṭuyūr al-māʼ (A Homeland for Water Birds)

1975 Poetry collection

Poems symbolic of nature, loss of homeland, and memory.

homelandnaturememory

Mamālik ḍāʾiʻah (Lost Kingdoms)

1999 Poetry collection

A representative later collection addressing political and historical themes poetically.

historylosssociety

Sayyid al-waḥshatayn (Master of Two Lonelineses)

2006 Poetry collection

Poems exploring the duality of personal solitude and social loss.

solitudesocial lossintrospection

Damāʾ al-qaṣīdah al-ḥadīthah (The Blood of the Modern Poem)

1989 Literary criticism

An important critical study on the characteristics and transformations of modern poetry.

poeticsmodern poetrycriticism

Bibliography

  • Lā shayʾ yaḥduth — lā aḥad yajīʾ (1973)
  • Waṭan li-ṭuyūr al-māʼ (1975)
  • Shajar al-ʻāʾilah (1979)
  • Damāʾ al-qaṣīdah al-ḥadīthah (1989)
  • Mamālik ḍāʾiʻah (1999)
  • Sayyid al-waḥshatayn (2006)
  • Ila Ayna Ayyatuha al-Qasidah (Autobiography, 2022)

Translations by Author

  • Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Language and Literature (English, 1996)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
modernist poetic formsclear analytical critical prosesymbolic and metaphor-rich poetic expression
Recurring Motifs
memoryhomelandlonelinesshistory and loss

Legacy

Ali Ja'far al-Allaq is an important Iraqi poet and critic whose poetry and critical studies have influenced modern Iraqi poetic movements. As an academic he has contributed to the training of younger poets and scholars across the Arab world.

Academic Societies

  • General Union of Arab Writers
  • Union of Iraqi Writers
  • Association of Literary Critics in Iraq

Trivia

  • Maintains a personal website alallak.com (archived).
  • Active both as a poet and a critic; has published works in English as well.