The Iraqi poet and recently appointed director of the Arab World Institute in Paris talks about stones, the overlap between diplomacy and literature, and what gives him 'the spirit of life'

Whether viewing the aeroplane, a symbol of freedom, as a death sentence, or pleading for the black sky to turn into milk for children to drink, poets cry out to the world for help.

Poets such as Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, Salah Abd al-Sabour, Khalil Hawi, and Mahmoud Darwish were said to have been influenced by Eliot; we examine the depth of this inspiration.

What remains of the legacy of the great Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab? Ali Mahmoud Khodir revisits the eventful life of the late poet as told by his son