Hanan Issa
{{Short description|Poet, artist, Scriptwriter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Hanan Issa
| image =
| caption =
| office = National Poet of Wales
| term_start = July 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = Ifor ap Glyn
| successor =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|34|2021|April|27}}
| death_date =
| birth_place =
| nationality = Welsh
| residence =
| occupation = Poet, filmmaker, scriptwriter, visual artist
| education = Cardiff University
| alma_mater =
| spouse =
| children =
| website = {{URL|hananissa.com}}
}}
Hanan Issa (born 1986/1987) is a Welsh–Iraqi poet, film-maker, scriptwriter and artist. She is the current National Poet of Wales, and the first Muslim to hold this title.{{Cite web |title=Hanan Issa |url=https://www.literaturewales.org/representing-wales-cohort/hanan-issa/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Literature Wales |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-07-07 |title=Wales appoints Hanan Issa as its first Muslim national poet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/07/wales-appoints-hanan-issa-as-its-first-muslim-national-poet |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
Early life and education
Issa grew up in Cardiff, Wales, the eldest of six children.{{Cite web |last=Prideaux |first=Sophie |date=2022-07-08 |title=Hanan Issa becomes first Muslim named as National Poet of Wales |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2022/07/08/hanan-issa-becomes-first-muslim-named-as-national-poet-of-wales/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=The National |language=en}} Her mother Karen is white Welsh and her father Ala is Muslim Iraqi. She grew up listening to her Welsh grandparents recited poetry and absorbing folklore and storytelling from the cultural tradtions of both sides of her family.{{Cite web |title=Hanan Issa |url=https://www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/poets/hanan-issa |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org |language=en-US}} She started to write poems from the age of six and later studied English Literature at Cardiff University.{{Cite web |last=Yaqoob |first=Tahira |title=An unexpected journey: the fantastic tale of Wales's first Muslim national poet Hanan Issa |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/arab-showcase/2024/08/08/hanan-issa-wales-muslim-poet/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=The National |language=en}}
In 2016, the then Prime Minister David Cameron made deeply uninformed comments about Muslim women, which made her angry. Issa shared a poem she had written to express this anger with a friend, who encouraged her to share the poem on Facebook. She received such a positive response that it gave her the confidence to take her poetry into the public domain.{{Cite web |last=Yaqoob |first=Tahira |title=An unexpected journey: the fantastic tale of Wales's first Muslim national poet Hanan Issa |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/arab-showcase/2024/08/08/hanan-issa-wales-muslim-poet/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=The National |language=en}}
Poetry
Her first solo publication was My Body Can House Two Hearts, a pamphlet of poetry published by Burning Eye Books in 2019. The pamphlet was one of three to win Burning Eye's debut pamphlet competition.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-03 |title=Winning Debut Pamphlets Launch This October! |url=https://burningeyebooks.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/winning-debut-pamphlets-launch-this-october/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Burning Eye Books |language=en}}
During her writing career, Issa has also worked a film-maker and scriptwriter. In 2017, her winning monologue 'With Her Back Straight' was performed at the Bush Theatre as part of the Hijabi Monologues project.{{Cite web |title=Stories announced for Hijabi Monologues London |url=https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/bushgreen/stories-announced-for-hijabi-monologues-london/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.bushtheatre.co.uk |language=en-GB}} In 2020, Issa was the recipient of a Ffilm Cymru/BBC Wales commission, which resulted in her writing and directing the short film The Golden Apple (2022).{{Cite web |title=Hanan Issa announced as the new National Poet of Wales {{!}} AberdareOnline |url=http://www.aberdareonline.co.uk/news/rhondda-cynon-taff/hanan-issa-announced-new-national-poet-wales |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=www.aberdareonline.co.uk|date=11 July 2022 }}{{Cite web |title=BBC Wales - Ffolio, The Golden Apple |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ck5zx1 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=BBC |date=6 July 2022 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Hanan Issa |url=https://www.literaturewales.org/our-projects/representing-wales-2020/representing-wales-cohort/hanan-issa/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Literature Wales |language=en-US}} She worked on the Channel 4 comedy series We Are Lady Parts, working alongside the show's creator Nida Manzoor.{{Cite web |title=Hanan Issa named National Poet of Wales |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/issa-named-national-poet-of-wales |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}
Alongside Darren Chetty, Grug Muse and Iestyn Tyne, Issa acted as a contributing editor to the essay anthology Welsh (Plural): Essays on the Future of Wales, published by Repeater Books in 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-01 |title=Roughly the size of Wales: four reflections on Welsh identity in the 21st century |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/mar/01/roughly-the-size-of-wales-four-reflections-on-welsh-identity-in-the-21st-century |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} with Issa noting that "connections between one loyalty and another flow as easily for me as one body of water running into another."{{Cite web |date=2022-03-12 |title=Review: Welsh (Plural) - Essays on the Future of Wales |url=https://nation.cymru/culture/review-welsh-plural-essays-on-the-future-of-wales/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Nation.Cymru |language=en-GB}} Issa also co-edited (with Durre Shahwar and Özgür Uyanık) the essay anthology Just So You Know: Essays of Experience, published by Parthian Books in 2020.{{Cite web |date=2020-08-19 |title=Just So You Know {{!}} Durre Shahwar and Özgür Uyanık |url=https://www.walesartsreview.org/just-so-you-know-an-interview-with-the-editors/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Wales Arts Review |language=en-US}}
National Poet of Wales
In July 2022, Issa was appointed as the National Poet of Wales, succeeding Ifor ap Glyn.{{Cite web |last=Review |first=Wales Arts |date=2022-07-07 |title=Hanan Issa announced as National Poet of Wales |url=https://www.walesartsreview.org/hanan-issa-announced-as-national-poet-of-wales/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Wales Arts Review |language=en-US}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlsy2zApR8E |title=Meet the National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa |date=2024-08-09 |last=The National News |access-date=2025-04-09 |via=YouTube}} The announcement was made on 6 July on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, with presenter Samira Ahmed interviewing Issa following the announcement.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, New national poet of Wales, Lucian Freud show, The Royal Cornwall Museum, The Blue Woman opera |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0018xfb |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Following an extensive selection process, Issa was appointed for a period of three years, with her tenure set to run until 2025. She became the first Muslim poet to hold the title.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-08 |title=Hanan Issa is the first Muslim chosen as national poet of Wales |url=https://arab.news/gj23w |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Arab News |language=en}} Hanan performed at the Hay Festival's After Hours event at Cabaret in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff in 2024, discussing the importance of acknowledging heritage and cultures.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiKYipaYr2A |title=“The tongue of the unseen or unknown” {{!}} Hanan Issa @ Hay Festival After Hours |date=2024-03-30 |last=Hay Festival |access-date=2025-04-09 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |date=2024-03-13 |title=Hay Festival After Hours: Cardiff |url=https://www.hayfestival.com/p-21356-hay-festival-after-hours-cardiff.aspx |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Hay Festival |language=en}}
Publications
= Poetry =
- My Body Can House Two Hearts (2019)
= As editor =
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Issa, Hanan}}