Iraqi translator Saadun wins Spain’s Martielo Ries international translation prize

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi critic and translator Abdulhadi Saadun has been named the 11th recipient of the Martielo Ries International Translation Award, granted by the Madrid-based Olifante Foundation. Saadun received the award for translating the Arabic feminist poetry anthology "Nabd al-Sawr wa-l-Muwahish," which features poems by women poets from six Arab countries, according to Iraqi Writers Union spokesman Muen Galib Sebbah. The collection includes work from poets in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Yemen, Sebbah said. The prize and book will be presented to Saadun during a book fair scheduled for August in Soria, Spain. Sebbah congratulated Saadun on the award on behalf of the Iraqi Writers Union. Saadun is known in Iraq for his long-standing translation work bridging Arabic and world literature. No further details on the ceremony were immediately available.