Writer Maitham Salman recently returned to work as a photographer after focusing eight months on writing a collection of short stories, thanks in part to funding from an Edmonton Arts Council Individual Artist Project Grant. Some of the ten stories take place in Iraq, and some in Edmonton.
“Each story has a different aspect, different theme, different technique, and all that stuff. Each one has it own history from my own life.”
Salman originally hails from Iraq, where he earned a degree in journalism from the University of Baghdad. He was unable to put that degree to use in Iraq following his graduation, due to a dictatorship at the time.
“With some of [the stories], the characters travel from Iraq to Canada like an immigrant and [they] reflect back on the situation in Iraq and what’s going on. One story has nothing to do with the immigration theme or my own personal life – just imaginative characters and has nothing to do with any political problems I have seen or experienced in my life. So one of them is just based on Canadian characters living in Edmonton.”
The writer is hesitant to classify the work he creates, but he mentions one consistent theme.
“[There is] one thread to all of my work: the psychological aspects of any of the characters. I study the characters deeply, and I focus on the psychological impact of any event surrounding the character.”
Salman’s approach to character study is reflected in the title he has chosen for his collection: Iraqi Romeo.
“I want to write about the real psychology of Iraqi people, which is love. You know, all we hear about Iraqis is problems, violence, and all kinds of stuff, right? But we don’t know [that]…like young people there, they will die for love.
“This story, it also has blood and killing – ironically in the first paragraph – because this character was killed by a suicide bomber. But his girlfriend or fiancé and his family, they were looking for him. So the whole story, they’re looking for him. One of the antagonists called him Romeo, because he found pictures of the girl he loves.”
Iraqi Romeo is the first work Salman has written in English. In Jordan, where he moved shortly after graduating from university, he had published one novel and a collection of short stories in Arabic. 
Salman did not start writing in English until the beginning of last year. For the majority of his time in Canada, he had been keeping in touch with the Iraqi or Arab literary community.
“With the Canadian literary community, I was isolated from them, because I didn’t have the right connection. Without English you are just like living in a different world. It was difficult for me to switch to a new language due to my age. Plus there was no time [with] working and family so I have minimum time to spend for writing.
“At the beginning of last year, I said to myself, ‘I have to at least try.’ So I started reading heavy literature in the English language. I tried to translate some of my stuff to English, and I wrote a very short story. Canadian writers encouraged me. They said, ‘You know, you are fine. You just need to fine-tune the piece. You know the whole process of literature.’” 
This led Salman, who was working on a novel in Arabic at the time, to set that project aside to focus on his work in English. He successfully applied for the Writers-in-Exile program, which he credits to helping him connect with more of the Edmonton literary community. It also gave him the chance to participate in LitFest.
“In the meantime, I applied for a grant. I was working, so if I want to do a heavy project such as a series of short stories in English, I have to be spared from work,” says Salman. “So I applied to Edmonton Arts Council for Individual Grant, and I was lucky to get accepted and that was a big step in my whole literary life. Without that, I wouldn’t be able to do this project, because to write a book in English – it requires for me lots of time. And money is time.”
Salman’s next plans are to work with a professional editor before sending his short stories to various publishers. Having had the experience of applying for a grant for the first time, he has some words of advice.
“When you apply for any grant, you have to have a project that you fully understand and are fully committed to. So when you start working on it, you know you’re gonna finish it. Because if you get the grant, and you start thinking, ‘Oh what am I going to do? What am I going to do?’ The time is gonna run up and you’re not going to finish your project. So for me, I had everything planned. I just needed time. Time for me means quitting my job, so the grant just worked perfect for me. So my advice is: plan ahead.”
http://yegarts.tumblr.com/post/97819676313/2013-individual-project-grant-recipient-maitham-salman
