Episode 23: Abeer Ameer

Poet Abeer Ameer, debut author of Inhale/Exile, originally trained as a dentist in London and completed her Membership of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons in Edinburgh. You may wonder how the dots connect, but Abeer says she was pretty much writing poems for her assignments for her MSc dissertation at Cardiff University which investigated the potential use of mindfulness-based therapies in the management of dental anxiety.

That said, Abeer’s poems don’t centre around dental anxiety, but rather stories of her Iraqi forebears and the experience of an often under-explored period in recent history. Her debut collection is out now with Seren Books. 

Abeer’s poems have appeared in both print and online journals and anthologies including: Acumen, Poetry Wales, Planet, Magma, Red Poets, New Welsh Reader, Prole, The High Window, Atrium, The Rialto and Long Poem Magazine. 

She is a recipient of the Literature Wales Mentoring Scheme for 2020.

Above all, Abeer considers herself to be a shy introvert, so it was a real treat to have her come on Babble and chat with interviewer Megan Thomas.