Weam Namou

Set in America and the Middle East in the early 1990s, The Feminine Art is the story of Suham, a married woman who distracts herself from boredom by trying to find her nephew, Michael, a wife. The perfect bride happens to be in Baghdad. As the arranged wedding takes a shape of its own, Suham and Michael are challenged to face the truths within themselves that had been kept hidden behind tradition and illusion.

To escape the military under Saddam’s harsh regime, Amel flees Baghdad after the Gulf War, just before his eighteenth birthday. Smart choice! He illegally immigrates into Athens, where he meets his first adversities—one of which is a boss captivated by women and trees, the other a roommate who switches price stickers on grocery products to charge Amel more money. Amel’s world changes when Dunia, his American cousin and the love of his life, comes to Greece for a semester. His struggles to win her love and his attempts to make it to America lead Amel to his true fate and his adulthood.

Mervat was born in Iraq as a minority Christian and in the late 1970s and came to America at age two. Torn between her cultural heritage which dates back over 7300 years and the new land of freedom and opportunity, she watches friends live an Americanized lifestyle while she clings onto Middle Eastern traditions, all along yearning for the courage to follow her own path, to "Trust thyself" as Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasized. Then she meets Johnny, the perfect potential suitor, but he brings along multiple complications. As their relationship faces its challenges, Mervat's desire for having individuality while maintaining her tribal lifestyle escorts her to the discovery of unexpected cultures and beliefs.

“Sometimes, a book of poems transcends the form and becomes pure experience. I Am a Mute Iraqi with a Voice is a startling call to memory and mourning for an Iraq that is “dead,” an ululation for all that is lost in war after war after war. In these poems, Iraqis are divided not by politics but by location and circumstance; those fortunate enough to live in America are wracked with guilt, and those left behind are trapped indoors. Namou interrogates this split within herself, with poem after poem, in an attempt to reconcile memories of a life in Baghdad with the safety of suburban American life and see past the divisions of history to an impossibly fraught future. I Am a Mute Iraqi is a troubling, necessary collection of poems urging us to recognize, and never forget, the personal and cultural consequences of war.” Trish Harris, founding editor of the Pea River Journal

The War Generation, the first of the Iraqi Americans book series, is a collection of 36 articles that Weam Namou wrote over the years which paint a picture of Iraqi Americans’ political and social situation and their struggles. Namou writes, “The views that leaders, politicians and activists I interviewed had about Iraq and the United States fascinated me, especially since their views largely differed from, or were not found in, mainstream media. Given these people’s direct connection to both countries, I felt it was important that their stories and perspectives be heard.”

In Witnessing a Genocide, Weam Namou shares her visit to Iraq in 2000, a journey where she embraced Easter with relatives, remembered her magical childhood in Baghdad, and enjoyed her ancestors’ town of Telkaif in Mosul. The trip, held dear to her heart and preserved through pictures of extravagant picnics, tours of ancient monasteries and other lively explorations, is soon drowned by the events that follow the 2003 US-led invasion.

Artists have a story, a story that affects their pallets. In Iraqi Americans: The Lives of the Artists, Namou wanted to honor artists of Mesopotamian ancestry by giving them the opportunity to share their incredible stories themselves rather than risk having others to do it for them, as was the case with famous Iraqi artist Layla Al Attar. The 16 artists in this book are not victims, but victors over their lives, following their passions and finding ways to showcase it despite any and all challenges.

One day, a family approached Namou to write a story about their daughter, Dawn Hanna, who was accused of conspiring to broker telecommunication equipment to Iraq during the sanctions. Unbeknownst to Dawn and the jury which tried her, her co-conspirator was actually a CIA operative. The project was sponsored by the United States to listen in on Saddam and his men. Namou was drawn to this story and decided to write about it as a cautionary tale. Through the lens of a single case, she touches on a number of important issues that are robbing American families from living the American dream: a criminal justice system that is based on greed and profit; big lies that lead to wars, sanctions, terrorism and other costly consequences; a democracy that is based on double standards.

Life has an odd way of bringing to you what you need when you need it most. Author Weam Namou learns this through her experience with Lynn Andrews shamanic school. Namou's story reveals how to track the events in your life that lead you to your individual truth. As you take her journey through Healing Wisdom for a Wounded World, you see yourself in each page and you witness how ancient teachings helped transform the life of a twenty-first century writer, wife, and mother.

In Book 2 of Healing Wisdom for a Wounded World, Weam Namou takes you through the second year of her apprenticeship in Lynn Andrews’ four-year shamanic school. Join her as she embarks on a deep transformation process. The school’s focus for this year is to understand how to bring form into the world; to experience holding energy and moving it out into the universe; to develop the ability to move energy into objects for healing and sacred work; to learn how to use sacred tools in a powerful way without manipulating ourselves or others; and to prepare for the building of dream bodies and develop the skills for lucid dreaming.

In Book 3 of Healing Wisdom for a Wounded World, Weam Namou shares the highlights of the third year of her apprenticeship in Lynn Andrews’ four-year shamanic school. Her biggest act of power this year is to make it to Storm Eagle, the training gathering in Arizona, and participate in the marriage ceremony. She wants to finally meet her mentors and Lynn Andrews in person. As she sets her intent and waits for the outcome, she dives into the schoolwork, which focuses on balancing one’s emotions, building endurance, working deeply with the chakra systems, and celebrating the marriage of self to self.

In Book 4 of Healing Wisdom for a Wounded World, Weam Namou reveals the key experiences of her final year as an apprentice in Lynn Andrews’ four-year shamanic school. Once again, she shares some of the ways Lynn’s students learned to apply these rich spiritual resources in their own lives.
The fourth year is about the apprentices bringing all of their tools and talents together, specifying their vision, and setting their course into the world. It’s about the completion/creation cycle.