Back to Baghdad
Episode description
Weam Namou,
Born in Baghdad to an ancient lineage called the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians who still speak Aramaic), Weam Namou emigrated to the U.S. at age ten. She is an Eric Hoffer award-winning author of 21 books, an international multi-award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and poet. Her two feature films have earned over 50 global awards from festivals in New York, France, Sweden, Italy, India, and beyond. She wrote and directed Pomegranate, the first Iraqi American feature film, released to 25 countries in March 2025 during Women’s History Month. In 2024, she received a Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellowship for Directing.
Weam has served in numerous leadership roles, including as Executive Director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, home to the world’s only Chaldean Museum, Ambassador for the Authors Guild of America [Detroit Chapter], Vice President of Detroit Working Writers, and host of a weekly TV show. She is the founder of The Path of Consciousness, a spiritual and writing community, and Unique Voices in Films, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Her essays, articles, and poetry have appeared in national and international publications such as World Literature Today, Acumen (England), and The Transnational (Germany). As a keynote speaker, she has delivered readings, lectures, and workshops at cultural and educational institutions worldwide.
Weam earned a Communications degree from Wayne State University and broadened her education through global travel, studying fiction, memoir, and screenwriting at institutions including the University of New Orleans in Prague and the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan. She also learned ancient philosophies from Indian and Native American teachers, as well as the late internationally bestselling author Lynn V. Andrews.
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