Mutanabbi Street

Mutanabbi Street (Arabic: شارع المتنبي) is located in Baghdad, Iraq, near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al Rasheed Street.[1] It is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It was named after the 10th-century classical Iraqi poet Al-Mutanabbi. This street is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literacy and intellectual community.

Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad, 2009

A car bomb or suicide bomb exploded and killed 26 people on Mutanabbi Street on March 5, 2007, leaving the area littered and unsafe for shoppers, and destroying many businesses.[2][3] In response to the bombing, Deema Shehabi and Beau Beausoleil edited an anthology in 2012 called Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here of people's responses to the bombing. The 100 contributors included Yassin Alsalman and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Anthony Shadid, among others.[4]

On December 18, 2008, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki officially reopened the street after a long period of cleanup and repair.[2]

  • Al-Mutanabbi Statue at the end of Mutanabbi Street beside the Tigris.

References
  1. The death of Al Mutanabbi Street
  2. Owles, Eric (December 18, 2008). "Then and Now: A New Chapter for Baghdad Book Market". The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  3. WONG, EDWARD; HABEEB, WISSAM A. (5 March 2007). "Suicide Bombing Kills 20 in Baghdad Book Market (Published 2007)". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  4. Bramley, Ellie Violet (21 January 2014). "Literary project honours Baghdad's devastated bookselling district". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2015.

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