The Bird Tattoo
Dunya Mikhail
The Bird Tattoo is a painful novel about the sale of Yazidi women in Iraq by ISIS. It focuses on Helen and Elias, who fall in love and marry, and their experiences with the organisation. Alongside this tragedy, the novel sheds light on aspects of Yezidi folklore, rich in astonishing customs and legends.
Publisher
Dar al-Rafidain
Nomination
2021 Shortlist
Dunya Mikhail
Country of origin Iraq
About the author
Dunya Mikhail is an Iraqi poet, born in 1965 and living in America. She obtained a B.A. in English Literature from Baghdad University and a Masters in Eastern Literatures from Wayne State University in the U.S. She currently teaches Arabic Language and Literature at Oakland University, Michigan. She has published nine books in Arabic, several of which have been translated into English, Chinese, French, Hindi, Italian and Polish. Her first book in English, The War Works Hard (2005, translated by Elizabeth Winslow), was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize.