Wijdan Alsayegh (Arabic: وجدان الصائغ) is an Iraqi writer, poet, and critic born in Baghdad in 1967. She earned a master's degree with a grade of excellence in 1992 from University of Mosul on her thesis (the Rhetorical image in the poetry of Omar Abu Risha). Local and Arabic magazines have published tens of her poetry and studies and she is currently the managing editor of the New Poetry Magazine – Middle Eastern studies department in Michigan, United States. Wijdan Alsayegh is the president of the Arab American Poetry House Association.
Early life The Iraqi poet, writer, and critic Wijdan Al-Sayegh was born in Baghdad in 1967. She earned a master's degree with a grade of excellence in 1992 from University of Mosul on her thesis (the Rhetorical image in the poetry of Omar Abu Risha). She also earned a doctorate degree from the same university in rhetorical criticism in 1995 on her dissertation (Imagery in the poetry of al-Akhtal al-Saghir). She also earned a diploma in media studies in 2001 from the University of Colorado in the United States. Al-Sayegh started teaching in 1992 and supervised numerous M.A theses of which the last were Character Portrayal in Muhammed al-Shurafi's Literature, Heritage in the Poetry of Hassan al-Sharafi, and the Poetry of Umara al-Yamani: A Stylistic Reading, College of Arts, Thamar University, 2005–2006. Arabic and local magazines published tens of her poems and studies, and she is currently the managing editor of the New Poetry Magazine and the Arabic Journal – middle eastern studies department in Michigan, United States. She was a member of the evaluative committee of the President of Yemen's Prize for Poetry for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006 and a member of the Al Owais Cultural Award for Poetry committee in the years 2015 and 2016.
Works
The Rhetorical Image in the Poetry of Omar Abu Risha, Dar al-Hayat, 1997. The Rhetorical Image in Feminist Texts from the United Arab Emirates, the Egyptian-Lebanese Corporation, 1999 The Sparkle of Creation and the Hearth of Disclosure: Readings in Contemporary Texts, Ubadi Foundation for Studies and Publication, Sana’a, 2001 The Lotus Flower: Readings in the Poeticism of Ali Abdullah Khalifa, Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin, 2002 The Rhetorical Image in Modern Arabic Poetry, Arab Foundation for Studies and Publication, Beirut, 2003 The Throne and the Hoopoe: Exegetical Analogies of Images in Yemeni Poetic Discourse, Al-Afif Foundation, Sana’a, 2003 Feminist Scriptures: Readings in Feminist Texts, Union of Yemeni Writers, Sana’a, 2003 The Female and the Mirrors of the Text: Arabic Feminist Literature, Ninawa House, Damascus, 2004 Poets from Dilmun, Ministry of Culture, Sana’a, 2004 The Poem and the Interpretative Space, Ministry of Culture, Sana’a, 2004 The Feminist Arabic Poem: Reading through the Disciplines, Ministry of Culture, Sana’a, 2005 Arabic Feminist Narrative: Reading through the Disciplines, Ubadi Foundation, Sana’a, 2006 The Carbuncle Rose: The Formation of Misery in the Contemporary Poem, Ubadi Foundation, 2006 The Swallow and the Spring: Readings in Yemeni Poetry, Dhamar University Press, Dhamar, 2006 Pearl Necklaces: Readings in the Contemporary Poem, Aden University Press, Aden, 2006
Awards
Laureate of Women's Literary Creation, Sharjah, November 1998, for her book the Rhetorical Image in Feminist Texts from the United Arab Emirates Al-Afif Cultural Award for Literature, Sana’a, April 2003, for her book the Throne and the Hoopoe: Exegetical Analogies of Images in Yemeni Poetic Discourse Her book The Lotus Flower was selected for distribution at the Bahraini Cultural Forum in its new location, January, 2002 She got awarded the Testimonial Plaque of the Mu’assasat al-Muthaqqaf al-‘Arabi for her career as a critic, Cairo, 2004
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