The Flavors of Iraq

1989. My first trip to Iraq. The taste of apricot. “Never say Saddam’s name.”

The Western media largely glossed over the immense human suffering that occurred in Iraq during the embargo of the 1990s and the Iraq War. With this innovative and award-winning graphic novel, French-Iraqi journalist Feurat Alani sets that record straight.

The Flavors of Iraq unfolds as a series of one thousand tweets. In them, Alani describes his experiences in Iraq from 1989, when he traveled from France to meet his extended family in Iraq for the first time, to 2011, when the last Americans pulled out of the country. Alani recounts the vivid impressions this place made on him as a child—its wondrous colors, tastes, and smells. And he documents the sounds, silences, and smells of a war in which hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians lost their lives.

Illustrated by the striking art of Léonard Cohen and with a foreword by Ross Caputi, a former US Marine who served in Iraq from 2003 to 2006, The Flavors of Iraq tells a poetic and powerful story of an oppressed population, an illegal war, and a country that no longer exists.

This unique work is a sensory exploration of Iraqi culture and life, and of the devastation wrought by decades of brutal dictatorship and war.

By the end of the summer in 2016, Alani's tweeted narrative of Iraq had attracted a devoted Twitter following, leading to an animated web series and the French edition of his book (approx. 7000 units sold ltd)

Cohen’s gorgeous art, which alternates page layouts from vertical panel arrangements to full-bleed splash pages to full-bleed spreads, echoes the impressionistic feel of the text and provides visual relief.

Alani writes for Reveal and has published in the Washington Post and other English-language outlets.

Born in France to Iraqi parents, Feurat Alani is an award-winning journalist and novelist. He was a news correspondent in Baghdad from 2003 to 2008 for Télé (now CNews), Ouest France, La Croix, and Le Point. In 2008, Alani returned to Paris to work on the television newsmagazine L’Effet papillon. He is the cofounder of the production companies Baozi Prod and In Sight Films. Alani collaborates regularly with the newspaper Le Monde diplomatique, the website Orient XXI, and the magazine Géo, and works as a reporter and producer with Arte, France 24, and Canal+. The Flavors of Iraq was originally published as Le Parfum d’Irak in 2018 and went on to win the Prix Albert Londres for the best book in 2019.Boileau Kendra :

Léonard Cohen is a French animator based in Oakland, California. He earned his master’s degree in animation at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in 2009. His film Plato was selected in many festivals and won multiple awards. Cohen designed the TV series Le Chiffroscope, which ran weekly for three seasons (2012–15) on L’Effet papillon.

Born in France to Iraqi parents, Feurat Alani is an award-winning journalist and novelist. He was a news correspondent in Baghdad from 2003 to 2008 for Télé (now CNews), Ouest France, La Croix, and Le Point. In 2008, Alani returned to Paris to work on the television newsmagazine L’Effet papillon. He is the cofounder of the production companies Baozi Prod and In Sight Films. Alani collaborates regularly with the newspaper Le Monde diplomatique, the website Orient XXI, and the magazine Géo, and works as a reporter and producer with Arte, France 24, and Canal+. The Flavors of Iraq was originally published as Le Parfum d’Irak in 2018 and went on to win the Prix Albert Londres for the best book in 2019.

Léonard Cohen is a French animator based in Oakland, California. He earned his master’s degree in animation at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in 2009. His film Plato was selected in many festivals and won multiple awards. Cohen designed the TV series Le Chiffroscope, which ran weekly for three seasons (2012–15) on L’Effet papillon.