America, America
Published in 2002 inWithout an Alphabet, With-
out a Face, Saadi Youssef’s poem ‘‘America,
America’’ is a complex work driven by imagery
and emotion. It was originally written in 1995 to
describethe life of theIraqi peopleastheircountry
endured United Nations-led sanctions. The poem
describes war and politics, but at a human level.
Youssef’s voice in the work is that of the common
Iraqi man or woman rendered powerless to
change the nation’s current regime or the world’s
reaction to it.
The dominant themes of ‘‘America, Amer-
ica’’ are war, struggle, cultural identity, and the
individual’s experience in history. The style is
free verse featuring a steady flow of images.
Like most of Youssef’s poetry, it is personal
and based on experience. As of the poem’s writ-
ing, Youssef had been creating verse for four
decades. This work reflects his maturity as a
poet and his broad experience in the world.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYSaadi Youssef was born in 1934 in Abulkhasib,
near Basra, Iraq. He began writing poetry at the
age of seventeen. By then, young writers had
begun to write free verse in Arabic, breaking
with tradition and bringing modernity to Arabic
poetry. After Youssef joined this movement, he
became one of the most celebrated and prolific
1SAADI YOUSSEF
2002