Nahrein Network podcast

3yin band leader and music collaborator Daniel Jonas and myself were interviewed about the The Wolf of Baghdad by Nahrein Network as part of their podcast series. We discussed the idea behind the project and about the cultural legacy of Iraqi Jewry, in particular the shared experience of our sacred and secular music. This repertoire […]

Up On The Roof

I was often told about the hot summer nights in Baghdad and how everyone would take their beds up on the roof to sleep under the stars. My aunt Yvonne recalled: “Beds with mosquito nets were set up and the whole family slept there. For a little girl the night sky dense with stars was […]

The Sound of Iraq

I was recently given a book of songs by Daoud and Saleh al Kuwaiti, two Jewish Iraqi brothers who wrote and recorded so much music that still remains popular throughout the Arab world today. The song featured below is one of their most popular: ‘Tadini’ (تآذيني)/’You Hurt Me’. ‘You hurt me, you hurt me/Oh my beloved, […]

Storks and a sandstorm

Well, I have now finished the memoir and am in the process of turning it into a semi-animated slideshow. Did you know that there’s a term for this type of thing? It’s called ‘motion comics’. Lately, I’ve been having a recurring dream about storks and sandstorms…

Wolf of Baghdad events

I’ve been given some great opportunities to talk about the project and show a short preview of the slideshow at a number of places in the UK this year: Graphic Brighton: This year’s Graphic Brighton is on the subject of Music and Comics and is being held in Brighton on July 19th, and at the University […]

Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel Competition

Delighted to tell you that my graphic memoir The Wolf of Baghdad has been long listed for Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel Competition. I am honoured to be on the list of submissions which you can see here. I submitted the first 30 pages of the work in progress earlier in the year and the […]

Tea and talismans

On a hike through the desert mountains of Jordan last month I met some Bedouins. Over a cup of tooth-curling sweet tea we discussed, amongst other things, wolves. Suleiman, a local tribesman, told me that they also have the wolf myth in their culture. A wolf’s tooth, sin-el-ḏheeb, is tied to a piece of coloured thread […]

Thank you…

Many thanks to all those who braved the icy conditions and came to the test performance of the Wolf of Baghdad at Laydeez Do Comics here in London last week. Your support was much appreciated and the feedback forms you kindly filled in will help inform the project’s completion next year. (See below for one […]

The Wolf of Baghdad – trailer

Here’s a sneak preview of tomorrow’s event at Laydeez Do Comics. (Turn on your audio to hear the soundtrack.) Booking information here. Monday 11 December from 7pm at the Tea House Theatre in Vauxhall, London.

Remembering Iraq

On the Tube home the other night, after a screening of the wonderful new documentary Remember Baghdad, I fell into conversation with one of the audience, an Iraqi lady called Dina. We were complete strangers but found ourselves talking about the film and its effect on us. She told me that she had lost her […]