After Islamic State: how writers and poets are reclaiming the soul of Mosul

Poets and journalists in Mosul discuss the state of the city after Islamic State at the Writers Cafe, a popular coffee shop. Waleed al-Saraaf, a retired surgeon and poet, says: ‘Now, there is no Daesh [IS] but we are still afraid they will read what we wrote and kill us. There are sleeping cells.’ Photograph: Omar Hamed Beato

As the sun sets over the streets of Mosul in northern Iraq, a group of young people gather in the basement of the Mosul Heritage Foundation to debate philosophy and literature. They are taking part in the city’s only public reading club, in the war-ravaged Old City quarter on the west bank of the Tigris River.

“The club allows me and other young people to discuss our ideas out loud without fear of society,” says Rahma Salah al-Jubouri, a 29-year-old poet and teacher of disabled children, who has attended the weekly meetings for the past four months. “I love thinking out loud but Iraqi society is very traditional,” she adds. “It is not easy to talk about our problems or ideas.”