Obituary: Nazik al-Mala'ika

Nazik al-Mala’ika who has died aged 83 was one of the most influential Arab poets of the 20th century. Her life and work reflected the history of her native Iraq – idealism, hope, disappointment, exile, depression. Like others of her generation she was influenced by English poetry and pioneered the breakaway from the formalistic classical modes of poetry that had prevailed in Arabic poetry for more than 1,000 years.