Nineb Lamassu is an internationally acclaimed poet writing in the ancient language of Assyria. Like most poets, they write to express the creativity within them which is screaming to be made manifest. For them, writing is an existential act, for them to write is for their language to be or not to be. Literature, especially poetry, is one of the best means to preserve and enrich any language. That is why they have dedicated most of their life creating original and modernist poetry and coining words in Assyrian. Their life long ambition is to contribute towards the preservation and enrichment of their language. Some of their poetry collections have been translated into English, Spanish, German, Swedish, Arabic, Turkish and Farsi. They also run a publishing house established to publish creative works in Assyrian and they are the chief editor of a journal ‘Ashlay Nisaba’, which specialises in creative writing and academic research in Assyrian. They have six poetry collections and they have participated in international poetry festivals and held readings around the world. They are also a member of a number of respected writers unions: Iraqi Writers’ Union, Syriac Writers’ Union and Exiled Ink. Thus, their astonishing poetry creates a poetic scene which is impossible for any astute reader to set aside because of its strangeness and wonder. – Shakir Seefo, poet and critic
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