Iyad Hayatleh, a Palestinian refugee poet, was born and grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria in 1960. He started writing poetry early and published his work in Arabic magazines, giving many readings in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. He has lived in Glasgow since 2000. He is now an active member of Scottish PEN and Artists In Exile Glasgow and has taken part in many events and translation and poetry workshops giving many readings in Glasgow, Inverness, Belfast, Wigtown, Aberdeen, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and published some of his poems in magazines and collective pamphlets in Scotland.

His first collection, 'Beyond all measure'. is published by Survivor's Press. Recently he co-led two poetry workshops in Glasgow and Inverness sponsored by Scottish Poetry Library and Oxfam. He is putting together a book of verse for publication later this winter will be published in Arabic in Damascus. This translation of 'My Mother' was published in Poetry Scotland.

Hazel Frew who collaborated with Iyad in the translation of this poem was born in Baillieston in 1968. She grew up on the east coast of Scotland in Broughty Ferry and graduated from Glasgow University in 1991. Her first poem was published in 1995 and since then she has had many poems published in magazines and anthologies including 'The Rialto', 'Orbis' and 'New Writing Scotland'. A pamphlet, 'Clockwork Scorpion' was published in 2007 and her first poetry collection, 'Seahorses' was published by Shearsman Books in 2008.