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About the Author

Dr. Manhal Sirat was born in Mosul, Iraq, and has lived in Sweden since 1991. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Mosul in 1977 and his M.S. in Geology from Baghdad University in 1982. He was then arrested and sentenced to life in prison by The Revolutionary Court. He was imprisoned in the Special Sentenced Section of Abu Ghraib prison, one reserved for political prisoners. He was released under a conditioned amnesty proclaimed in 1986, after serving forty-five months in prison. He left Iraq after the Desert Storm (Gulf) War and sought political asylum in Sweden, where he then earned his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the renowned Uppsala University in 1999. Since then he has worked in numerous universities in Sweden, the US, Jordan, Germany, and finally in the United Arab Emirates. He has also served as a petroleum expert for the international firm Schlumberger in Kuwait and the UAE, and as a Geomechanics Specialist for the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Operations and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. He returned back to Sweden and worked for Vattenfall AB as a Geotechnical Specialist. Currently, he is a geological and renewable energy consultant in Sweden. He has published three scientific books and more than forty articles in scientific journals.

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View Geology Career

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The Migratory Bird (October's Bird) is Manhal Sirat’s first literary work. A book of his poetry is awaiting publication. He has exhibited works of art in several shows, and one of these was purchased for the Public Library in Uppsala.

MIGRATORY BIRD

FROM ABU GHRAIB TO EXILE
Written by Manhal Sirat
Translated from the Arabic by William Hutchins

“Prison” and “exile” are synonymous, especially when a host country seems alien and the refugee feels marginalized and unfairly treated. A political prisoner is separated in his home country from his loved ones and subjected to scorn and derision because of his political or ideological positions vis-à-vis the oppressive state writ large. He seeks asylum, when he can, in distant lands, searching for a safer, more equitable world that will respect his self-image, which he has attempted to protect from being twisted out of shape in his fatherland. The refugee typically searches for safety and decent life in other countries after being forced to burn all his boats to reach distant harbors. Once he has reached them, they are his sole alternative. When refugees, no matter who they are, are not genuinely welcomed by their host country, they must withdraw into themselves in search of some type of return or find a warm spot in the icy chill of the new society where they live in an emotional alienation as grievous as any they experienced in their homeland, which rejected, imprisoned, and oppressed them politically or socially, or both.

In my book, I try to recreate alienating moments of my life both in my fatherland and in my land of exile, the country to which I emigrated in search of a better world. I attempt to sketch and share things that have happened to me and to many others. These are precious moments, some captivating and others hideous, insane, and even incredible; my memory has acted as a whip at times and at others is imbued with a delightful fragrance like spring.

Some characters in this book are real people and some are products of my imagination. Others existed and were part of my life during my lifetime—or in an alternative time created from the experiences of others in distant eras.

I dedicate this book to anyone who has stood or currently stands strong in the face of oppression and deprivation, clinging to beliefs forged under duress or of his own free will. I also dedicate it to the spirits of my mother Mamdooha, Fadila, and my Aunt Hajer. I gained enormously from their love, which I could only reward with the pain of separation. Finally, I dedicate it to all my loved ones including my two brothers, my sister, my wife, and every fine person I’ve known.

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The preface and the first three chapters have been translated by Prof. William Hutchins and published in Brooklyn Rail. 

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Manhal Sirat, Sweden, October 2019

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