Saadi Youssef studied Arabic literature in Baghdad. He was influenced by the free verse of Badr Shakir as-Sayyab, Shathel Taqa and Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayyati and was also involved in politics from an early age, leaving the country permanently in 1979 after Saddam Hussein's rise to power. At the time his work was heavily influenced by his socialist and anti-imperialist sympathies but has since also taken a more introspective, lyrical turn. He has also translated many well known writers into Arabic, including Oktay Rifat, Melih Cevdet Anday, Garcia Lorca, Yiannis Ritsos, Walt Whitman and Constantine Cavafy. Since leaving Iraq Youssef has lived in many countries, including Algeria, Lebanon, France, Greece, Cyprus, Yugoslavia and currently he resides in London.

In 2007 Youssef participated in the PEN World Voices festival where he was interviewed by the Wild River Review.

• Without an Alphabet, Without a Face: Selected Poems translated by Khaled Mattawa (Graywolf, 2002) ISBN 1-55597-371-X

Secondary sources

• Huri, Yair The Poetry of Sa’di Yûsuf: Between Homeland and Exile (Sussex, 2006) ISBN 9781845191481