Haifa Zangana

Who is Haifa Zangana?

Haifa Zangana is an Iraqi novelist, author, artist, and political activist. She is most notably known for writing Women on a Journey: Between Baghdad and London. Haifa grew up in Baghdad and graduated from Baghdad University and the School of pharmacy in 1974. In the early 1970s, as a young activist in the Iraqi Communist Party Haifa was imprisoned by the Baath regime but she managed to escape execution. When she was released from prison, she stayed in Iraq to continue pursuing her studies. As a member of the PLO, she was the manager of the pharmaceutical unit, moving between Syria and Lebanon in 1975. She came to Britain in 1976.

As a painter and writer she participated in the Eighties in various European and American publications and group exhibitions, with one-woman shows in London and Iceland. She is also a contributor to European and Arabic publications such as The Guardian, Red pepper, Al Ahram weekly and Al Quds, and is a founding member of the International Association of Contemporary Iraqi Studies and a member of the advisory board of the Brussel’s Tribunal on Iraq.