Al-Mutanabi Street is the historic center of the book universe in Iraq's capital city of Baghdad. It is a street lined with booksellers and has served as the intellectual and literary hub of the city since the 8th century. Now it has its first women bookseller, 22-year old Ruqaya Fawziya. Speaking of her new endeavor she says: In the beginning not only my family, anyone I would speak to about my idea to sell books at Al-Mutanabi Street, would oppose the idea, describing it as strange, and advising me not to do it, but later, when they saw me entering this world,...
