Creator Bio
Samantha Ellis
b. 1975
Samantha Ellis was born in London to an Iraqi Jewish family. Her father left Baghdad in 1951 for England, while her mother’s family immigrated in 1971. She is a playwright, screenwriter, and author, living in London. Aside from numerous plays, she has written How to Be a Heroine (2014), a memoir of reading fictional female characters; Take Courage (2017), a biography of Anne Brontë; and Chopping Onions on my Heart (2025, US title: Always Carry Salt), a memoir about the loss of the Iraqi Jewish dialect of Arabic.
Content by Samantha Ellis
Primary Source
Iraq ’n’ Roll: Rediscovering Iraqi Jewish Roots
Playwright Samantha Ellis reflects on Iraqi Jewish culture, memory, and the music of Dudu Tassa.
Primary Source
Judeo-Arabic as an Endangered Language: Memoir by Samantha Ellis
A British woman of Iraqi Jewish descent laments the loss of her native Judeo-Arabic and attempts to reclaim it.