Inhale/Exile

By Abeer Ameer

“A moving and humane collection… The poems remind us poignantly of the importance of hope and love in bleak times, and pay tribute to inspiring acts of courage.” – Mslexia

“A confident, humane and thought-provoking debut.” – Poetry Review

“Ameer’s poems weave a series of mesmerising journeys back and forth between Iraq and the UK, exploring the interstices and convergences between cultures, between atrocity and hope, faith and dogma, language, silence and love. She tells it bluntly, sometimes wryly, but with surgical precision and composure: each poem vibrant with the smells, tastes, textures, muscles and heartbeat of authentic experience.” – Robert Walton

“These poems remind us that even in the darkest times, there is light, and there is love. Inhale/Exile insists that the reader doesn’t turn away from suffering, and in return we learn the stories of lives lost and lives saved, witness tremendous acts of courage, and understand how faith ensures survival.” – Katherine Stansfield

Inhale/Exile is the debut poetry collection by Abeer Ameer, a rising poet of Iraqi heritage, who lives in Cardiff, Wales. Inspired by the many stories she heard as a child and visiting family in Iraq as an adult, she has written a book that celebrates the resilience of her forebears and extended family in Baghdad and around the world. The book presents a range of characters in a mixture of political and personal poems; ordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances. Formally diverse, using both traditional and experimental methods, these poems are also full of empathy and suffused with a quietly persistent faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seren
• Release date: Feb 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781781726112

Abeer Ameer

Abeer Ameer was born in Sunderland and grew up in Wales. She trained as a dentist in London and completed an MSc, developing an interest in treatment of anxious patients and mindfulness.