Hanan Issa


Hanan Issa is a Welsh–Iraqi poet, film-maker, scriptwriter and artist. She is the current National Poet of Wales, and the first Muslim to hold this title.

Early life and education

Issa grew up in Cardiff, Wales, the eldest of six children. Her mother Karen is white Welsh and her father Ala is Muslim Iraqi. She grew up listening to her Welsh grandparents recited poetry and absorbing folklore and storytelling from the cultural traditions of both sides of her family. She started to write poems from the age of six and later studied English Literature at Cardiff University.
In 2016, the then Prime Minister David Cameron made deeply uninformed comments about Muslim women, which made her angry. Issa shared a poem she had written to express this anger with a friend, who encouraged her to share the poem on Facebook. She received such a positive response that it gave her the confidence to take her poetry into the public domain.

Poetry

Her first solo publication was My Body Can House Two Hearts, a pamphlet of poetry published by Burning Eye Books in 2019. The pamphlet was one of three to win Burning Eye's debut pamphlet competition.
During her writing career, Issa has also worked a film-maker and scriptwriter. In 2017, her winning monologue 'With Her Back Straight' was performed at the Bush Theatre as part of the Hijabi Monologues project. In 2020, Issa was the recipient of a Ffilm Cymru/BBC Wales commission, which resulted in her writing and directing the short film The Golden Apple. She worked on the Channel 4 comedy series We Are Lady Parts, working alongside the show's creator Nida Manzoor.
Alongside Darren Chetty, Grug Muse and Iestyn Tyne, Issa acted as a contributing editor to the essay anthology Welsh (Plural): Essays on the Future of Wales, published by Repeater Books in 2022. with Issa noting that "connections between one loyalty and another flow as easily for me as one body of water running into another." Issa also co-edited the essay anthology Just So You Know: Essays of Experience, published by Parthian Books in 2020.

National Poet of Wales

In July 2022, Issa was appointed as the National Poet of Wales, succeeding Ifor ap Glyn. The announcement was made on 6 July on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, with presenter Samira Ahmed interviewing Issa following the announcement. Following an extensive selection process, Issa was appointed for a period of three years, with her tenure set to run until 2025. She became the first Muslim poet to hold the title. Hanan performed at the Hay Festival's After Hours event at Cabaret in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff in 2024, discussing the importance of acknowledging heritage and cultures.

Publications

Poetry

As editor