Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Arab world mourns poet Nazik al-Malaika

|
|
 
  
Published: June 27, 2007 at 3:26 PM

CAIRO, June 27 (UPI) -- Nazik al-Malaika, an Iraqi poet who was one of the first to pen free verse instead of the formal rhyme and meter most Arab poets endorsed, has died in Egypt.

The Iraqi consul in Cairo said Malaika, 83, died of old age. She had also suffered from Parkinson's disease.

Born Aug. 23, 1923, al-Malaika earned a degree from the College of Arts in Baghdad. Her mother was also a poet. Her father was a language teacher.

Malaika won a scholarship to study at Princeton. She earned a master's degree in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin.

After studying in the United States, the poet returned to Iraq, leaving her country in 1970 to move to Kuwait. She left Kuwait for Cairo in 1990.

Malaika published poetry, essays, short stories and literary criticism. The struggle for Arabic women was a theme in much of her work. One of her most famous poems is "Lament of a Worthless Woman," recounting the story of a woman put to death in an honor killing.

© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Entertainment News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Daily Show writer partners with Slate to crowdsource ideas for amending and rewriting the Constitution....
Canada's national archives is being dismantled and scattered, who needs to remember the history...
Man disappears in Niagara Falls whirlpool; presumed to be spinning in his grave
Woman swallows toothbrush while brushing her teeth. Surgeons remove it before Oral B becomes Anal...
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' calling fallen military 'Heroes'
What do you REALLY know about the Queen?