Saadi Youssef

Saadi Youssef (1934–2021) was an Iraqi poet born near Basra and regarded as one of the most important contemporary poets in the Arab world. After being held as a political prisoner in Iraq, he lived most of his life in exile, working as a teacher and literary journalist. He spent his final two decades in London and wrote more than forty poetry collections. His work appeared in the Translation Folios of Copper Nickel's Spring 2024 issue (Issue 38), rendered into English by Khaled Mattawa.