Basim Furat

Basim Furat was born in Karbalaa, Iraq, in 1967, and started writing poetry when he was in primary school. His first poem was published when he was still in high school. In early 1993 he crossed the border and became a refugee in Jordan. Four years later he arrived in New Zealand. The death of his father when he was two years old, the fact his mother was left a young widow and his compulsory military service for the Iraqi army in the second Gulf War have had a large influence on his poetry.

Furat's poetry has been published all over the world, and has been translated into French, German, Italian, Farsi, Romanian, Chinese, Spanish and English. He has had published four poetry books in Arabic, one in Spanish and two collections of translations in English. In addition, in 2007, a book with articles and essays about his work was published and in 2009 another work containing articles about his poetry and an extensive interview was published. In 2004 HeadworX Publishers, Wellington, New Zealand, published his first book of translations in English entitled Here and There. Furat left New Zealand in 2005 with his Kiwi wife and has lived in Hiroshima, Japan, for several years and is now currently based in Laos.

List of Publications

Poetry in Arabic

The Vehemence of Cooing (Madrid, Spain, 1999)
The Autumn of Minarets (Jordan, 2002)
Me Again (Egypt)
To Language of Light (Egypt)

Poetry in English

Here and There: A Selection (HeadworX, 2004)
The Moon That Excels in Nothing But Waiting (ESAW, 2006)
No Boat May Allow Drowning to Vanish: New Poems (HeadworX, 2010)

Poetry in Spanish

In the Language of the Exiles