Lamees Al Ethari

Continuing Lecturer

Photo of Lamees Al Ethari.
PhD, University of Waterloo
Master of Arts, Kansas State University
Master of Arts, University of Baghdad
Bachelor of Arts, Al-Moman University College

Extension: x43029
Email: lalethari@uwaterloo.ca

Biography

My academic journey began in Baghdad, Iraq as an English language student at a small teacher’s college, where I learned to teach English language and literature to non-native English speakers. After receiving my BA (1999), my interest in learning and teaching English led me to complete my first MA degree (2002) from the University of Baghdad. In 2006, I had the opportunity to expand both my academic and cultural experiences when I won a Fulbright Scholarship to complete a second MA at Kansas State University (2008). After receiving my degree, my young family and I arrived in Canada as landed immigrants. One year later, I joined the PhD program at the University of Waterloo. Since my graduation (2014), I have been dividing my time between my family, my teaching, and my creative and scholarly work. I currently teach academic writing, creative writing, and literature courses.

Selected Publications

Books

Waiting for the Rain: A Memoir. Toronto: Mawenzi House Publishers, 2019.

From the Wounded Banks of the Tigris. London: Baseline Press, 2018.

Book Chapters

“Iraqi Mothers, Diasporic Sons: Narrative Patterns of Identity and Belonging in Baghdad Twist,” Representations of Refugee, Migrant, and Displaced Motherhood in a Global Context. Ed. Maria Lombard. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. (Under Contract.)

Pieces in Literary Journals and Anthologies

“Baghdad” (poem), “Carrying Baghdad” (visual art), “Dreams of Home” (visual art). About Place Journal, vol. 5, no. 2, Fall 2018.

“Poems of a Fallen City: Four Poems.” The New Quarterly, no. 147, Fall 2018.

“311 and Counting.” Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: Poets and Writers Respond to the March 5th, 2007, Bombing of Baghdad's "Street of the Booksellers." Oakland: PM Press, 2012.

“Dreams of Exile,” “Roots,” and “Zahawi.” Malpais Review. vol. 2, no. 2, Autumn, 2012.

“After the Rain.” The Changing Image, Kitchener Public Library, 2011.

“Roots.” The Changing Image, Kitchener Public Library, 2009.

Fellowships & Awards

  • Principal Investigator, Connection Grant, (SSHRC) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, “The X Page: A Storytelling Workshop for Immigrant Women,” 2019-2020.  
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2011-13
  • The Dorothy Shoemaker Literary Award for Prose 2011
  • Graduate Creative Writing Award for Poetry 2011
  • The Dorothy Shoemaker Literary Award for Poetry 2009
  • Graduate Creative Writing Award for Prose 2007
  • J. William Fulbright Scholarship, 2006-2008

Current Research

I am currently preparing a monograph titled Patterns of Telling: Iraqi Women’s Autobiography in the Diaspora. The work is a critical exploration of Iraqi women’s life narratives in North America, focusing especially on their representations of war, migration, and displacement.  

Knowledge Mobilization

  • Nonfiction Editor, The New Quarterly 
  • Co-Coordinator, The X Page Project

Areas of Interest

  • Life Writing/Women’s Life Writing
  • Creative Writing
  • Diaspora and Postcolonial Theory
  • War and Trauma Theory and Literature
  • Arab and Arab North American literature, history, and culture