Unveiling "The Dangers of Poetry": Iraqi Poetry's Role in Cultural Politics | Kevin Jones
Kevin Jones talked about poetry in the Middle East and his book, The Dangers of Poetry, which is the first book to narrate the social history of poetry in the region through their function as social acts that critically shaped the cultural politics of revolutionary Iraq.
Kevin Jones is Associate Professor of History at the University of Georgia. He earned his PhD in History from the University of Michigan in 2013 and was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the George Washington University Institute for Middle East Studies in 2013-2014 before beginning his current position at the University of Georgia. His work on Iraqi cultural history and Middle Eastern labor history has appeared in Social History and his new book, The Dangers of Poetry: Culture, Politics, and Modernity in Iraq, was published by Stanford University Press in September 2020. The book traces the history of poetry, political protest, and public performance in modern Iraq and demonstrates the unique contribution of nationalist and communist poets to the cultural politics of anticolonialism and national liberation in the twentieth century. He is currently working on two new book projects, a transnational intellectual and cultural history of sectarianism and a political and social history of colonialism and democracy in the modern Middle East. Dr. Jones' teaching has been recognized with the J. Hatten Howard III Award for early career excellence in teaching honors courses and the Parks-Heggoy Faculty Graduate Teaching Award. He has also served as a Special Collections Library Faculty Fellow and University System of Georgia Chancellor's Learning Scholar.
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