Baghdad (22/10/2025) — The Prose Poetry Atelier, in cooperation with the French Institute in Iraq, organized the event “The Experimental Table – 2 –” under the title “Transformations of Iraqi Prose Poetry.”
The session hosted a distinguished group of poets from the 1980s generation: Mohammed Mazloum, Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Sayegh, and Naseef Al-Nasiri.

The Director of the French Institute, Mr. Samuel Mime, welcomed the Atelier’s event and its audience, highlighting the importance of this outstanding cultural activity and commending the coordination efforts between the Institute and the Atelier in organizing such events in Baghdad.

In the Atelier’s administrative address, it was noted that the Prose Poetry Atelier Project is one of the 2025 initiatives of the Peta Center for Cultural Services in Baghdad, aspiring toward sustainability through fruitful partnerships with various cultural institutions across the country.

In his artistic address, Dr. Zain Hussein stated that “the Prose Poetry Atelier team made an active contribution to organizing the Iraqi Prose Poetry Conference held on April 25, 2025, in collaboration with the General Union of Writers and Authors in Iraq and the company Basma Baghdadiya.
The conference program included the event Experimental Table 1, which we intended as an important starting point for prose poets to share their experiences, visions, and perspectives in this field. Today, in cooperation with the French Institute, the Atelier continues this effort with Experimental Table 2, aiming to build a continuing series that illuminates the knowledge surrounding this poetic genre — its origins, evolution, and fate — in belief in the strength of the Iraqi poetic discourse and the prominent figures who enriched the cultural life with remarkable achievements recognized both regionally and internationally.”

Afterward, the moderator of the roundtable, poet and literary translator Amal Ibrahim, introduced the guest poets to the audience, shedding light on the broader cultural context in which the 1980s prose poetry movement had flourished. The audience then engaged with the poets through questions, reflections, and discussions that enriched the session with valuable artistic and cultural insights.

The event was attended by an elite group of writers, poets, academics, critics, translators, journalists, and cultural opinion leaders from various fields.