Iraqi author Ali Hamza al-Rubaie releases new book in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi writer and journalist Ali Hamza al-Rubaie released his new book "To Those Yet Unborn.. Letters of Dream and Contemplation" in Baghdad on Tuesday, published by al-Warsha al-Thaqafiyya publishing house. The work revisits the literary letter tradition to examine humanity's future, its relationship with technology, memory and human values. The book is the first volume of a planned literary trilogy. The second installment, "To Those Born a Thousand Years Before Us.. Letters of Anger from 3026," and the third, "Those Who Live Among Us.. Letters of Noisy Questions," will continue the series. Through characters he created for the trilogy, the author poses questions, dreams and laments addressed to descendants a thousand years in the future, interrogating the fate of humanity. In the second volume, the direction of address reverses, with the descendants asking their ancestors of 2026 to account for the loss of human roots. The trilogy explores values the author describes as fading, including patience, love, listening, silence, apology, laughter and the spatial memory of streets. The letters depict a year 3026 in which people live in "silent solitude and withdrawal," estranged from simple human principles and their Mesopotamian origins.