Faheela Hassan is called "Iraq's Maya Angelou". Her work is translated widely. In Lipstick, she renders grief, the experience of war, love and longing, and dream into poetic sensibility.

Lipstick

Literature & Fiction

Hassan, Faleeha

Poetry

Transcendent Zero Press

War and Me: A Memoir

Review\nPraise for War and Me\n“Hassan renders her harrowing experiences in an authentic, heartfelt manner, offering important testimony of personal and national courage. A beautifully wrought memoir from a pioneering Iraqi author.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)\n“Iraqi poet Faleeha Hassan (A Butterfly’s Voice) revisits a lifetime defined by war in this devastating and gorgeous work…While a sobering narrative, Hassan’s intelligence and resilience combine to yield an incredibly powerful look at the ripple effects of warfare. Her poignant tale of survival is one that readers won’t soon forget.” ―Publishers Weekly\n“Reading War and Me often feels like listening to a new friend tell her life story, complete with jokes, dreams, and detours…It’s impossible not to want better for Hassan and her family before the first chapters are done.” ―NPR\n“Hassan, now an American citizen, said she did not write this book for accolades. ‘Maybe one time, one leader will read my book, and he will change his mind to have another war,’ she said. ‘That’s my goal.’ War and Me is a deeply personal view of what years of wars and international sanctions did to the people Hassan loved.” ―Philadelphia Inquirer\n“The author’s poetry is what earned her the reputation as the ‘Maya Angelou of Iraq,’ but she proves how apt the comparison is in War and Me, a book highly reminiscent of Angelou’s first and most famous memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings…War and Me is a remarkable demonstration of what a woman can do to survive.” ―Words Without Borders\nPraise for Faleeha Hassan\n“Faleeha Hassan, ‘the Maya Angelou of Iraq,’ wields a mighty pen.” ―Oprah.com\nAn intimate memoir about coming of age in a tight-knit working-class family during Iraq’s seemingly endless series of wars. 
Faleeha Hassan became intimately acquainted with loss and fear while growing up in Najaf, Iraq. Now, in a deeply personal account of her life, she remembers those she has loved and lost. 
As a young woman, Faleeha hated seeing her father and brother go off to fight, and when she needed to reach them, she broke all the rules by traveling alone to the war’s front lines―just one of many shocking and moving examples of her resilient spirit. Later, after building a life in the US, she realizes that she will coexist with war for most of the years of her life and chooses to focus on education for herself and her children. In a world on fire, she finds courage, compassion, and a voice. 
A testament to endurance and a window into unique aspects of life in the Middle East, Faleeha’s memoir offers an intimate perspective on something wars can’t touch―the loving bonds of family.

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Amazon Crossing

Introduction The book falls into seven short stories entitled “The Life of No”, “The Iron Collar”, “A Mass Grave”, “My Mom and I”, “Granny”, “Specks on the Water” and “Sandy Cinderella”. “The Life of No” relates the lack of democracy in Iraq. “The Iron Collar” offers a dramatic depiction of the relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. “A Mass Grave” revolves around an actual person whose disappearance leads to a discovery: He is found in a mass grave –a landmark of the dictatorship under the regime of Saddam Hussein. The moment of one soldier’s arrest for having arrived at the warzone late marks the beginning of this narrative, which continues with his ensuing incarceration. How he, along with his prison mates, is subjected to severe punishments under corporal order, his prosecution after an unfair trial and the ensuing brutal tortures he endures prepare the story for its end, when he is buried alive in a mass grave together with other prisoners. “My Mother and I” is a short story where reality and fantasy meet. “Granny” presents a drama about a set of Siamese twins in their teens: A male and a female whose mother is deceased while giving them birth. When their father is killed in action, their poor and illiterate grandmother raises them. She has only her narrow worldview and rather limited life experiences to offer to them. The siblings thus grow up incapable of integrating into their environment and are socially alienated. With its portrayal of dual-gender conjoined twins, this short story symbolizes shared but dysfunctional lives, within which men and women often confine themselves in any society of the world. “Specks on the Water” uncovers interlocking events. In the first, an object –a brick is personified. It narrates its harsh life; beginning with the moment it comes out of brickwork and arrives in the hands of a bricklayer, to be used –as done customarily in Iraq for the construction of an army checkpoint. The actual checkpoint, presently a prison had been destroyed after the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled. In the story, the brick’s life ends when one of the prisoners removes it in his attempt to escape. The wall is then demolished, and the brick is thrown into the river. The second event circles around an educated woman who is suffering from her husband’s illiteracy. In pursuit of an option to further her studies, she travels to Baghdad –a city of educational opportunities. She is kidnapped there. Her abduction is only the first among the series of dangers she faces. She has a close call with a vehicle-borne IED. The narrative ends with her looking down from a section of a destroyed bridge. Underneath, dead bodies, which she takes for specks, drift away atop the river. “Sandy Cinderella” narrates a scene from the daily life in al -Najaf, Iraq. Faleeha Hassan

Mass Graves

Literary

Inner Child Press, ltd.

Preface It is possible for a poet to walk and sleep alone, and he or she can also live alone. But, in my opinion, he or she cannot eat alone. That is why I sit on my balcony every morning and share my breakfast with the birds and the squirrels. Then, I often wonder what breakfast would be like for the butterflies that fly nearby. So, I have decided to create poems for butterflies to taste and enjoy. I am sorry if war has turned the flavor of my poetry collection in this book bitter. It has, after all, distorted my life . . . Faleeha Hassan

Breakfast for Butterflies

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hassan, Faleeha. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hassan, Faleeha

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hassan, Faleeha. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Lipstick

War and Me: A Memoir

War and Me: A Memoir

Mass Graves

Breakfast for Butterflies