‘not from this
‘not from this world’ Prolific poet Khalid Almekdisy is fondly recalled By Weam Namou A small group of Iraqi American writers came up with the idea of honoring literary men and women whose work did not receive much media exposure. They made a list of names and then chose the late poet Khalid Almekdisy to honor first. “I met Khalid Almekdisy through a local organization we started here called Literature Without Borders,” said Nashat Al Mandwee, a writer and one of the program’s organizers. “I liked his personality and his poetry and I was excited to help introduce his work to people. He deserved to be honored.” On April 6, a special event was held at the American Cultural Polish Center in Troy where renowned Iraqi poets shared stories about the deceased Almekdisy and read some of his poetry to about 100 audience members. Almekdisy, a Chaldean, was born in Baghdad in 1939 and lived with his family in different parts of Iraq until he settled in Baghdad in 1951. He started writing poetry at the age of 11, and after the 1958 Revolution, he became a Khalid Almekdisy member of the Iraqi Writers Union. He graduated from law school in 1963 and practiced his profession for 30 years. But he never stopped writing. He published a collection of poems in Iraq in 1988 and another collection here in the United States in 2000. “His talent in poetry was so strong that people would often ask him, are you from Najaf or Karbala?” said his daughter, Ghada Almekdisy, noting that in Iraq, some of the strongest poetry is found in these two cities. “During his youth, he moved around in Iraq to many provinces,” said his wife, Hannaa. “He lived in Basra for a while and would go to the library there and read all the books. His older brother and friends told him that a true poet has to memorize the ‘Alfia.’” Explains poet Dunya Mikhail, “Alfia is a type of very strict classical poem that follows a certain pattern and a certain rhythm, and it consists of a thousand lines.” “He memorized 30,000 verses, as well as the entire Bible and the Quran,” said his wife. “He always read to us, and we would ask him, ‘don’t you get tired of reading?’ He said, ‘no, this is how I keep it in my memory.’” “He used to say that ‘Iraq is my arteries’,” said Ghada, his only child. “He and I were connected by art.” Almekdisy did his best to teach his daughter about the arts. A player of the oud himself, he taught her how to play this instrument at a young age and when he found that she had a natural talent for it, he hired professionals to help hone her skills. “Khalid and his daughter did not have an ordinary father/ daughter relationship,” said Abdulelah Alssayegh, Ph.D., professor of literature in Iraq and one of the program’s organizers. “It exceeded that. There was a lot of love that is no longer found these days between a father and his daughter.” Alssayegh described his first encounter with Almekdisy. “When I met him, I said to myself, this man is not from this world. He behaved in an incredibly spiritual manner. Since then we were not simply friends but also family.” Almekdisy came to the United States in March 1996 and he continued to write poetry and articles. He wrote his own Alfia, which no one Ghada Almekdisy plays the oud. had done in more than 200 years, and submitted it as a thesis to a university in London in an attempt to attain a Ph.D. They liked his work but in order to pursue the degree he had to go to London, which was impossible due to health issues. Kamal Alsaedi, Ph.D., represented Muhammad Al Tahriri, Ph.D., cultural attaché of the Iraqi Cultural Center in Washington who was expected to attend but could not do so at the last minute. Alsaedi announced that the center was going to publish in Arabic all of Almekdisy’s poetry in one collection and distribute it the United States and in Iraq. Almekdisy’s family was happy and honored by the event. However, co-organizer Salam Roumaya, publisher of Harp Magazine, believes it came a bit late. “Khaled Almekdisy passed away eight years ago,” he said. “We should reward artists while they are alive, not when they are dead.” The event was filled with poetry and Ghada played the oud on two separate occasions, followed by a short documentary about Khalid Almekdisy. Initially Al Mandawee and his colleagues hoped to continue this type of event with a different poet or writer each time, given Iraq’s great number of poets. Al Mandawee quoted Nizar Qabbani, a famous Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher who once said, “If you opened every palm date in Iraq you will find a poet.” Having said that, he added, “Our people are too critical. Instead of showing gratitude and support, they questioned why we chose a Christian writer, and they analyzed other factors. I realized we are born seeing the negative side of the light. It is difficult to teach our people otherwise because they have two roots — one is religion and one is contradiction. You can’t achieve a balance between these two points.” 40 CHALDEAN NEWS MAY 2014
Congratulate those you love with a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! FIRST COMMUNIONS ANNIVERSARIES GRADUATIONS SAMPLE 1/8 PAGE RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY! ■ Quarter Page (0) ■ Eighth Page (0) NAME ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (PLEASE PRINT) PHONE _________________________________________________ EMAIL __________________________________________ ADDRESS / APT. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CITY / STATE / ZIP ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please mail the form, along with a photo, 60-80 word biography and a check made payable to The Chaldean News to: Chaldean News / Editorial Department / Announcements 29850 Northwestern Highway, Suite 250, Southfi eld, MI 48034 PHONE (248) 996-8360 FAX (248) 996-8342 www.chaldeannews.com
