Detroit -- Four months after publishing her poetry collection The Tablets: Secrets of Clay, Iraqi-American poet and writer of Assyrian descent Dunya Mikhail celebrated with a signing of her new book at Al-Shorouk Hall in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The event, held on 7 November and sponsored by the Al-Rafidain Forum for Culture and Arts, drew dozens of members of Detroit's Iraqi community, including Iraqi Consul Mohammed Hassan Saeed Mohammed and his wife.

The evening opened with musical performances by artist Basil Haddad. Nabeel Romaya then delivered opening remarks highlighting the Al-Rafidain Forum's cultural initiatives and achievements over the years.

Following that, Slaaf Saeed Shaja presented an overview of Mikhail's creative and personal journey as a Assyrian poet. A recorded message from Professor and literary critic Nasser al-Hajjaj was then played, offering an analytical reading of Mikhail's latest collection and noting her literary influence across the United States and beyond. Al-Hajjaj praised Mikhail's innovative poetic style and her ability to merge Iraqi memory with universal themes.

In her speech, Dunya Mikhail expressed gratitude to the Al-Rafidain Forum, the audience, and all who contributed to the success of the evening. She presented a signed copy of The Tablets: Secrets of Clay to the Iraqi Consul, who thanked her and commended her creative role as a cultural ambassador of Iraq.

The event concluded with poetry readings from Mikhail's new collection, followed by a book-signing session and a reception.

Born in Baghdad, Dunya Mikhail graduated from university before beginning her career in translation and journalism. She emigrated to the United States in the 1990s, where she has since become one of Iraq's most acclaimed literary voices, chronicling themes of war, exile, and resilience.

Her poetry first appeared in Arabic in the mid-1980s. In 2005, New Directions published her collection The War Works Hard, translated by Elizabeth Winslow, which was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, making Mikhail the first Iraqi poet to have a book published in the United States.

Since then, she has authored six more books -- often self-translated or written bilingually -- including the poetic memoir Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea (2009), which won the Arab American Book Award, the novel The Bird Tattoo (2022), and several other acclaimed poetry collections, culminating in The Tablets: Secrets of Clay (2025).

Her first prose work, The Beekeeper (2017), documents the Yezidi genocide through oral testimonies of women who escaped Islamic State (ISIS) captivity, earning international recognition for its powerful storytelling.

Mikhail is also a recipient of the UNESCO--Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, which she described as "a prestigious honor that motivates me to give my best and helps my voice reach a wider audience."

In a symbolic gesture, UNESCO adopted one of the clay tablets from her latest book as an international poster, bearing the inscription, "Let love be the new world order."