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The Beekeeper of Sinjar: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Beekeeper of Sinjar: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Dunya Mikhail
Translated by Max Weiss
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:224
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 128
Category/GenreReportage and collected journalism
ISBN/Barcode 9781788161299
ClassificationsDewey:305.69915909567
Audience
General
Edition Main

Publishing Details

Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Imprint Serpent's Tail
Publication Date 6 June 2019
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

In The Beekeeper of Sinjar, the acclaimed poet and journalist Dunya Mikhail tells the harrowing stories of women from across Iraq who have managed to escape the clutches of ISIS. Since 2014, ISIS has been persecuting the Yazidi people, killing or enslaving those who won't convert to Islam. These women have lost their families and loved ones, along with everything they've ever known. Dunya Mikhail weaves together the women's tales of endurance and near-impossible escape with the story of her own exile and her dreams for the future of Iraq. In the midst of ISIS's reign of terror and hatred, an unlikely hero has emerged: the Beekeeper. Once a trader selling his mountain honey across the region, when ISIS came to Sinjar he turned his knowledge of the local terrain to another, more dangerous use. Along with a secret network of transporters, helpers, and former bootleggers, Abdullah Shrem smuggles brutalised Yazidi women to safety through the war-torn landscapes of Iraq, Syria, and Eastern Turkey. This powerful work of literary nonfiction offers a counterpoint to ISIS's genocidal extremism: hope, as ordinary people risk torture and death to save the lives of others.

Author Biography

Dunya Mikhail worked as a journalist for the Baghdad Observer before she was forced to flee Iraq. Her poetry collection The War Works Hard was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize. Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea won the 2010 Arab American Book Award for poetry. Dunya Mikhail has also been awarded the UN Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing. She currently lives in Michigan.

Reviews

It is not for the faint-hearted, but they should read it anyway. We should all read it. -- Peter Stanford * Observer * Remarkable ... With this short book, the tragedies and the heroism of this time of horror will survive intact. -- Louise Callaghan * Sunday Times * Rare and powerful ... Mikhail has created a searing portrait of courage, humanity and savagery, told in a mosaic of voices. ... [her] gifts as a poet infuse these narratives with unexpected beauty * The New York Times * Mikhail bears witness to women in war-torn Iraq, women who have scarcely known peace throughout their lives. That she is a poet is clear on each page. * Kirkus Reviews *