I AM ENHEDUANNA is the story of the world’s earliest known author. Enheduanna, High Priestess of the Moon, lived in Mesopotamia in what is now Southern Iraq. She wrote in a world where poems were purely sacred texts used to praise Gods, and her claim of authorship over her words was seen as an act of defiance – one that paved the way for the century’s old tradition of authored poetry we know today. So why is it that so few people have heard her name?
When Tatiana Hollier first discovered the work of Enheduanna, she was immediately enthralled by not only the words but the woman that wrote them. She started seeing Enheduanna’s influence everywhere. In this book, Tatiana traces the life of this ancient poet from her birth in the craggy Sumerian region of Akkad to her death and the long legacy she left behind. In doing so she peels back the layers of Enheduanna’s story and discovers not only the long-forgotten history of a fearless and pioneering woman, but that there are undeniable parallels with her own life. Whilst Enheduanna found her divine inspiration in the mythic goddess Inanna, through writing and researching this book Tatiana found her own muse.
With a novelist’s touch, Tatiana joins the ranks of great feminist historians such as FEMINA author Janina Ramirez. All animated with the lushly imagined texture of the ancient Sumerian world, the suspense and momentum of excavating a forgotten history, and Tatiana’s own reverence for a kindred rebellious spirit.
Tatiana Hollier is a writer based in New York. There are few things she loves more than discussing the beauty of Mesopotamian literature, the creative possibilities of biography, and the lives of women in the ancient world. She graduated from Brown University with a degree in Linguistics and is currently pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts at Columbia University.
