Photo: Hanan Issa at The Arab Room in Cardiff Castle. (Credit: Camera Sioned/ Literature Wales)
Nadine Osman
Author, poet, and filmmaker Hanan Issa made history when she was named the national poet of Wales earlier this month. Her selection on July 8 makes her the first Muslim to be chosen for the three-year-term role, in which she will serve as a cultural ambassador for Wales.
Speaking on behalf of the selection panel, Ashok Ahir, President of the National Eisteddfod Court and Chair of the Eisteddfod Management Board, said that Welsh-Iraqi Issa has a “cross-community voice that speaks to every part of the country.”
In a statement to The Muslim News, Issa, who lives in Cardiff, said, “Poetry exists in the bones of this country. I want people to recognise Wales as a country bursting with creativity: a land of poets and singers with much to offer the arts.
I’d like to continue the great work of my predecessors in promoting Wales, Welshness, and the Welsh language outside its borders. More than anything, I want to capture the interest and inspiration of the public to see themselves in Welsh poetry and encourage a much more open sense of what Welshness is.”
Muslim women often “get squashed into very narrow perceptions,” she added, and expressed hope that women from all walks of life will see her success and think, “That’s a thing that’s achievable for me.”
Issa grew up in Cardiff surrounded by people speaking a variety of languages, including her Iraqi relatives who spoke Arabic and her grandparents who spoke Welsh. “Sitting with one foot on either shore of different heritages does make you have a greater, deeper understanding of different views, different ways of living, and different languages,” she said.
“I’ve always been comfortable being in a space where I don’t fully understand what other people are saying. In the UK, we have several minoritised languages, as well as languages that are spoken by second and third-generation people, and I think it’s a really important step forward for us to start seeing ourselves as a multilingual, multicultural nation.”
Issa said that during her time as a national poet, she hopes to introduce more people to cynghanedd, an ancient Welsh form of poetry, and encourage more people to appreciate poetry. She added that she also wants to “add to conversations around identity and belonging, particularly when talking about natural spaces.”
Issa’s collection of poetry, My Body Can House Two Hearts, was published in 2019. She also contributed to two books published this year: Welsh (Plural): Essays on the Future of Wales and The Mab, a children’s book based on the Welsh Mabinogi legends and mythology.
She also co-founded Where I’m Coming From, an open-microphone night for writers in Cardiff. She is part of the writers’ room for We Are Lady Parts, a TV sitcom about a group of Muslim women in the UK who form a punk rock band. And she was among the first group of writers to participate in the Representing Wales programme launched by Literature Wales in 2021.
