Jewish name, Bilbul changed all the names to more neutral ones to please his friends. Reflective of his desire to present authentic accounts and to reach the masses, much of the dialogue in Bilbul's stories was written in colloquial Arabic. Praised for his short-story technique, focus and unity, and social realism, he was also criticized for naivete, lack of originality, and weakness in characterization. He is nevertheless cited as one of the 21 most important novel and short story writers from the period between 1920 and 1955. Like other Jewish writers in Iraq in the 1930s and 1940s, his literary works were targeted toward a wide audience, were influenced by both Western and Islamic traditions, and he wrote not as a Jew, but as an Iraqi. He continued to write in Arabic after his emigration to Israel in 1951. References Bibliography copy 1920 births 2003 deaths Iraqi emigrants to Israel 20th-century Iraqi poets Iraqi Jews Israeli poets Israeli Jews Jewish poets Social realism Tel Aviv University alumni Israeli male short story writers Israeli short story writers 20th-century poets 20th-century short story writers 21st-century Iraqi poets