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“The President’s Gardens”
November 20, 20187:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62).
7:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.
Casa Árabe and the Alianza Editorial publishing firm will be presenting
the latest novel by the Iraqi writer residing in Spain, Muhsin al-Ramli,
in Madrid on November 20.
Participating in the presentation along with the author are Álvaro Zamarreño, a journalist from the Cadena SER radio network, and Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Politics Coordinator.
Based on real events, “The President’s Gardens” is a novel of extraordinary literary, human and political quality that tells the story of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq (without ever naming it) better than any other work of journalism or essays. A deeply moving investigation into love, death and injustice, and an affirmation of the importance of dignity, friendship and a conscience under the worst oppression. Despite the horrific events discussed, the author has succeeded at writing a work with a universal scope that reaffirms life against all forms of nihilism. Therein lie its beauty and originality, which led it to win the English Pen Award.
“If every victim had a book, all of Iraq would become an enormous library impossible to catalogue.” Muhsin Al-Ramli
Event information sheet
Muhsin Al-Ramli is one of the most important Iraqi novelists and playwrights, as well as having translated several Spanish classics into the Arabic language. He has lived in Spain since 1995, when he was driven into exile by Saddam Hussein’s regime. He is also the brother of writer Hassan Mutlak, considered the “Lorca of Iraq” by his country’s intellectuals. Mutlak was hanged by the regime in 1990 after taking part in an attempted coup d’état. Founder of the cultural journal Alwah in 1997, of which he is the co-editor, and since 2004 a professor at the University of Saint Louis in Madrid. His novel The President’s Gardens was amongst the finalists for the IPAF Award in 2013, known as the “Arab Booker Prize,” and he won the English Pen Award.
Based on real events, “The President’s Gardens” is a novel of extraordinary literary, human and political quality that tells the story of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq (without ever naming it) better than any other work of journalism or essays. A deeply moving investigation into love, death and injustice, and an affirmation of the importance of dignity, friendship and a conscience under the worst oppression. Despite the horrific events discussed, the author has succeeded at writing a work with a universal scope that reaffirms life against all forms of nihilism. Therein lie its beauty and originality, which led it to win the English Pen Award.
“If every victim had a book, all of Iraq would become an enormous library impossible to catalogue.” Muhsin Al-Ramli
Event information sheet
Muhsin Al-Ramli is one of the most important Iraqi novelists and playwrights, as well as having translated several Spanish classics into the Arabic language. He has lived in Spain since 1995, when he was driven into exile by Saddam Hussein’s regime. He is also the brother of writer Hassan Mutlak, considered the “Lorca of Iraq” by his country’s intellectuals. Mutlak was hanged by the regime in 1990 after taking part in an attempted coup d’état. Founder of the cultural journal Alwah in 1997, of which he is the co-editor, and since 2004 a professor at the University of Saint Louis in Madrid. His novel The President’s Gardens was amongst the finalists for the IPAF Award in 2013, known as the “Arab Booker Prize,” and he won the English Pen Award.
