Hassan Blasim, The Iraqi Christ

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After the success of his debut collection,

The Madman of Freedom Square

(2010), Iraqi-born writer Hassan Blasim (b. 1973) returned to the literary scene with

The Iraqi Christ

, a collection of 14 stories about violence, loss, and trauma. He wrote both works from exile, living and working in Finland, a country which he entered in 2004 as a refugee. Like Blasim’s other stories, this collection is so unusual that it is hard to place. On the one hand, critics noted Blasim’s indebtedness to the Arabic literary tradition—his allusions to Abu Nuwas’s 8th Century wine-songs, and to the

Arabian Nights

and other classics within the fantastic tradition of Arabic writing. On the other hand, as Robin Yassin-Kassab points out,

The Iraqi Christ

also echoes the literature of Latin America,…

1749 words

Citation: Al-Attabi, Qussay M.. "The Iraqi Christ". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 September 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38833, accessed 28 March 2024.]

38833 The Iraqi Christ 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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