Why Iraq's booksellers want the freedom to censor their shelves First Edition

IN AL-MUTANABI Street, the bookseller of Baghdad knows all. He can even explain why Saddam Hussein's bodice-ripper, Zabiba and the King, has sold out yet again. Nabil Hayawi sold 1,500 copies - a real Iraqi bestseller - and is waiting for the third edition of Saddam's tome to be printed in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIndependent (London, England : 1986)
Main Author Robert Fisk in Baghdad
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London (UK) Independent Digital News & Media 17.07.2004
Subjects
Hussein, Saddam
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Summary:IN AL-MUTANABI Street, the bookseller of Baghdad knows all. He can even explain why Saddam Hussein's bodice-ripper, Zabiba and the King, has sold out yet again. Nabil Hayawi sold 1,500 copies - a real Iraqi bestseller - and is waiting for the third edition of Saddam's tome to be printed in Beirut. Saddam is not the only author to be sold in Nabil Hayawi's bookshop. There are piles of Korans, science treatises, Arabic poetry and a translation of the entire works of Shakespeare - or "Shaikspir" as it transliterates from the Arabic text. Yesterday morning, book buyers were perusing a new volume called Famous Women, which includes the lives of Queen Shejerat Aldour of Iraq, Queen Zenobia of Syria, Nefertiti and Helen of Troy. Among the most popular books are the works of the late Syrian poet Nizar Kabbani and the young Islamist cleric Amro Khaled. The days of censorship are over, of course. But Mr Hayawi has mixed feelings about this.
ISSN:0951-9467