Al-Jawahiri Festival celebrates literary unity with over 300 writers in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — Under the theme Lebanon and Palestine: Tributaries Meeting in Mesopotamia, the General Union of Writers and Authors in Iraq hosted the 15th Al-Jawahiri Festival in Baghdad. Running from 23–26 October, the four-day festival brought together more than 300 writers from across the Middle East and all Iraqi governorates, with strong participation from Baghdad’s literary community.

Festival events included six poetry sessions, two critical symposiums, and two research panels covering a variety of literary topics. The festival also featured the signing of two newly released publications from the Union’s collection.

Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian poets, represented by the Syriac Writers Union, contributed actively to the festival, reciting their poetry in both Syriac and Arabic, highlighting the enduring cultural influence of Syriac literature in Iraq. Notable poets in the delegation included Rond Boulos, Nimrod Qasha, Ghazwan Sabah, and Amir Boulos, whose works reaffirmed the Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian cultural presence in Iraq’s literary landscape.

In conjunction with the festival, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid inaugurated the Alfred Semaan Library in the Union’s building, adding to the celebration of Iraqi literature last Thursday.