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Saadi Simawe, guest editor of the new anthology, Iraqi Poetry Today, describes his work translating Iraqi poetry and publishing it in English, as "a desperate effort to save what remains of Iraqi humanity and culture in the face of a brutal dictatorship and war... Although I lost faith in politics long ago.... I still believe in the power of the word...". Tonight three Iraqi poets, Fadhil Assultani, Hashem Shafiq and Sa'adi Yousef read from Iraqi Poetry Today, published by Modern Poetry in Translation. English translations will be read by Stephen Watts.