Betool Khedairi
Betool Khedairi (Arabic: بتول الخضيري) was born in Baghdad in 1965 to an Iraqi father and a Scottish mother. After receiving her B.A. in French literature from the University of Mustansirya, she divided her time between Iraq, Jordan and the United Kingdom while working in her family’s business. She currently lives in Amman.
Her first novel, A Sky So Close, is translated from Arabic into English, Italian, French and Dutch and is the subject of literary critique studies in various international universities.
Ghayeb (Absent) is her second novel. The Arabic edition was published in Amman in July 2004.
“The deadline is at midnight in America; dawn, 5 A.M., in England, and 8:00 A.M., early morning, in Iraq. The Americans tie yellow ribbons around oak trees, hoping for their sons' safe return home. The Iraqis tie green ribbons around the Shrine of the Imam al-Hussain, praying for God's protection. In the coldest month, the coldest war of the modern age is declared.”
Betool Khedairi