Faleeha Hassan: Coming of Age in Iraq During a Time of Constant War
by David Jastrow
Faleeha Hassan is a poet, playwright, writer, teacher, and mother, but has overcome many obstacles to achieve that status. The writer who has been described as “The Maya Angelou of Iraq,” has written a memoir called War and Me that vividly describes stories of love and survival while growing up in Iraq during a time of relentless war.
In War and Me, Hassan depicted what it was like coming of age in a working-class family in Iraq and how she eventually left the country. In a testament to her tenacity, Hassan’s memoir revealed a window into unique aspects of life in the Middle East and a personal perspective on how the perils of war can be overcome with the loving connections of family. Hassan said it was hard to revisit the stories and memories she shared in the book. “It’s not easy because I wrote something from my experience,” Hassan said. “I can’t just imagine things and write about them. When I wrote the memoir, I needed to remember all these details.”
When she was growing up, Hassan was focusing on survival. But when it came to writing the book, she had to put herself in the same situations again to write about it. “It’s not hard to write about, but it’s hard because I still live these moments,” she said. “But I am glad I still have my mom, my father, my grandmom with me in this book. Something good is I gather all my family with this book. I have them with me.”
Hassan wrote about growing up in a middle-class family and eventually leaving Iraq, eventually moving to the United States. However, shortly after building a life in the U.S., Hassan realized that she would coexist with war for most of the years of her life and chose to focus on education for herself and her children. In a world on fire, she discovered courage, compassion, and a voice. War and Me provided Hassan with the chance to share these experiences and to correct common misconceptions by those living in the U.S. and other countries about what life in Iraq was like.
“Not everyone in America understands how the Iraqi people were living during the war,” she said. She describes how there are two main socioeconomic statuses of Iraqis — very rich people and those who are looking for food. “Our family was lucky enough to have one of the members of the family working,” Hassan recalled. Her father was working two difficult jobs but that was fortunate when most families did not have work or sources of money. They were looking for medicine and faced hunger every day, Hassan explained. “When I did write this book, my goal was to make other people from other countries know what the harsh consequences of war that make the Iraqi people suffer and what they deal with every day.”
Hassan recalled that when she and her siblings went to school every day her mother and grandmother prayed for them to safely return home. Despite the hardships and setbacks, Hassan said she was able to keep going because she has a great relationship with herself and has always understood that everyone has their own personal battles to fight, whether they are dealing with war, disease, loss, prejudice, lack of faith, or other forms of adversity. “You need to love yourself and be friends with her,” Hassan said. “You need to keep going and live your life at every moment. I give myself these lessons for free.”
While at the Collingswood Book Festival, Hassan said she thinks people can enjoy her book and help them better understand the human cost of war. “The first moment I came to this festival a few years ago, I hoped one time I would be an author and I could read or teach about my work. My dream is coming true.”
Faleeha Hassan will be joining fellow writer and poet Sannii Crespina-Flores, author of Machetes are Forged in Soft Rivers, at the Collingswood Book Festival on Saturday, October 1. She will be participating in a panel with Ms. Crespina-Flores from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., at Tent 1 — Haddon and Frazier Avenues. Hassan also will be reading from War and Me at Tent 6 — Haddon and Washington Avenues — at 11:10 a.m.
