Inaam Kachachi (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
:انعام كجه جي; born 1952) is an
Iraqi journalist and author. Inaam is an Iraqi writer, born in Baghdad in 1952. She studied journalism at
Baghdad University
The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public research university in Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the ...
, working in Iraqi press and radio before moving to Paris to complete a PhD at the Sorbonne. She is currently the Paris correspondent for London-based newspaper ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' and ''Kol Al-Usra'' magazine in Sharjah, UAE. Kachachi has published a biography, ''Lorna'', about the British journalist Lorna Hales, who was married to the famous pioneering Iraqi sculptor Jawad Salim, and a book in French about Iraqi women's literature produced in times of war. She produced and directed a documentary about Naziha Al Dulaimi, the first woman to become minister of an Arab country, in 1959. Her first novel ''Heart Springs'' appeared in 2005 and her second novel ''The American Granddaughter'', was shortlisted for IPAF in 2009. An English translation of the novel was published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing in 2010.
Life and career
She was born in
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
and studied journalism at university. She worked as a journalist in both print media and radio before moving to France in 1979. She went on to obtain a
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in Paris. She still lives and works in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and is the local correspondent for a couple of Arabic-language newspapers.
Work
In 2004, Kachachi made a documentary on
Naziha Al Dulaimi, the first female cabinet minister in the Arab world. She has also published several fiction and non-fiction titles. These are:
* ''Lorna, her years with Jawad Selim'' (Beirut, 1998) (non-fiction)
* ''Paroles d’Irakiennes'' (Paris, 2003) (non-fiction)
* ''Sawaqi al-Quloob'' (''Streams of Hearts'', 2005) (novel)
* ''Al-Hafeeda al-Amreekiya'' (''The American Granddaughter'', 2008) (novel; translated into English by
Nariman Youssef)
* ''Tashari'' (2013)
*Annabitha, (the outcast), 2017, has been shortlisted for the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
Kachachi's second novel ''The American Granddaughter'' was nominated for the
Arabic Booker Prize
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) (), also known as "the Arabic Booker", is regarded as the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world.
Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing ...
. ''Tashari'' was shortlisted for the
International Prize for Arabic Fiction
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) (), also known as "the Arabic Booker", is regarded as the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world.
Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing ...
(2014).
Films
* Al Manshour Al Alani(Openly published), Baghdad, 1975.
* Lena, an Iraqi in LA, Los Angeles, 2004, a 10 minutes documentary film, about the participation of women in the first election after the American invasion.
* Naziha Al Dulaimi, Potsdam, 2004, a 30 minutes documentary film about, the Iraqi woman doctor who, in 1959, was the first woman to become a minister in an Arab country. Then she was exiled in Germany.
* Mahjoub, Cairo and Beirut, 2016, a 60 minutes documentary film about the Copte doctor who was a militant for peace, who was also a poet and a writer for young readers.
See also
*
Jawad Saleem
Jawad Saleem (, 1919–1961) was an Iraq, Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Ankara, Ottoman Empire in 1919. He became an influential artist through his involvement with the Iraqi Baghdad Modern Art Group, which encouraged artists to explore tech ...
*
Lorna Selim
Lorna Beryl Selim (1928 – 23 January 2021) was an English artist and art teacher, who married prominent Iraqi sculptor Jewad Selim, relocating to Baghdad with him in 1950. She was a practising artist for much of her life up until her death. Se ...
References
20th-century Iraqi novelists
Iraqi women novelists
Iraqi journalists
Iraqi women journalists
Writers from Baghdad
Living people
1952 births
21st-century Iraqi novelists
University of Baghdad alumni
Iraqi Assyrian people
Assyrian writers
Assyrian women
{{Iraq-writer-stub