Background
Al-Malaika was born in Baghdad to a cultured family. Her mother was also a poet, and her father was a teacher.
university professor writer poet
Al-Malaika was born in Baghdad to a cultured family. Her mother was also a poet, and her father was a teacher.
Al-Malaika graduated in 1944 from the College of Arts in Baghdad and later completed a Master's degree in comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Degree of Excellence. She entered the Institute of Fine Arts and graduated from the Department of Music in 1949.
Al-Malaika is famous as the first Arabic poet to use free verse. She wrote her first poem at the age of 10. In 1959 she earned a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin in the U.S., and she was appointed professor at Baghdad University, the University of Basra, and Kuwait University.
Al-Malaika published several books of poems:
her first book of poetry "Ashiqat al-Layl" ("Night's Lover(female)") after her graduation. She wrote "al-kolera" (Cholera) poem which considered by critics as a revolution in the Arabic poem in 1947. "Shazaya wa Ramad" ("Sparks and Ashes") followed in 1949.
She published "Qararat al-Mawja" ("Bottom of the Wave") in 1957. her final volume "shagrt al-qamar" ("Tree of the Moon") being published in 1968. "wa yu3'ayer alwano albahr" ("And the sea change his color") in 1970. Al-Malaika taught at a number of schools and universities, most notably at the University of Mosul.
She lived in Kuwait until Saddam Hussein invaded that country in 1990. Al-Malaika and her family left for Cairo, where she lived for the rest of her life. Towards the end of her life, Al-Malaika suffered from a number of health issues, including Parkinson's disease.
She died in Cairo, Egypt in 2007 at the age of 83.