A creative woman charts a path from the laboratory to the poem
Baghdad – time
In a world that is accustomed to categorizing people between those with scientific minds and those with literary souls, the young woman Aya Muhammad Al-Taie stands out as a different model that breaks these traditional molds, as she chose to walk two parallel paths that come together at one point: passion and creativity. She studies chemistry, and at the same time has an early passion for writing and literature, to confirm that the equation and the poem are not two contradictory worlds as many think, but rather they can meet in one human experience.
She began her writing journey at the age of twelve, when she was drawn to stories and tried to formulate simple texts in children’s literature. Those early beginnings were not just a passing hobby, but rather turned over time into a growing passion that included poetry, prose, short stories, and even scattered attempts at popular poetry. At the same time, her interest in science, especially chemistry and science fiction, was developing in parallel, which made her see in the two fields a common space based on imagination, research and expression.
Al-Taie believes that the relationship between chemistry and writing is deeper than some people imagine, as chemistry is not just rigid laws or memorized equations, but rather a vast space for mental creativity. A scientist, she says, always begins with a question: What if? It is the same question that leads the writer to create a new story or poem. From this standpoint, the laboratory becomes a place for testing ideas, just as paper becomes a space for creating images and meanings.
She explains that one of the most prominent examples of this overlap is synthetic chemistry, where a researcher imagines a new molecule that might be a treatment for an incurable disease or a substance with unprecedented properties, and then begins work to transform this vision into reality. This process, in essence, is very similar to what an artist does when he imagines a creative work and then gives it its final form.
Despite this harmony between the two fields, Al-Taie does not hide that academic study poses great challenges, as it requires time, effort, and continuous focus, which makes it occupy the largest part of her day. However, she asserts that her preoccupation with study did not affect her literary voice or her own way of expression, but rather only postponed some writing projects and ambitions until the post-graduation stage, when there would be more space to devote herself and return to writing in greater depth.
Time management is one of the most difficult challenges you face. Scientific study requires mental discipline and continuity, while writing requires psychological clarity and a special emotional state. During periods of exams and academic pressure, it becomes more difficult to reconcile the two sides, but she is careful not to stop writing completely, even through short texts or quick ideas that she saves for later.
She believes that there is a deep intersection between science and poetry, as science, in its essence, is an attempt to understand the universe and reveal its secrets, while poetry seeks to understand humans, their feelings, and their internal transformations. They both start from observation, questioning, and the desire to discover what is behind the apparent.
She cites Albert Einstein’s famous saying: Imagination is more important than knowledge, considering that this phrase sums up the true relationship between scientific creativity and literary creativity.
Regarding her vision for the future, she says that she does not see herself having to choose one path over the other, but rather aspires to succeed in both fields. She is, as she describes herself, “a chemist with a writer’s heart.” Science gives her precision and methodology, and literature gives her amazement and a sense of humanity, and they complement each other in formulating her vision of life.
In the experience of Aya Muhammad Al-Taie, a new image is embodied for Iraqi youth who search for themselves outside traditional classifications, and believe that talent knows no boundaries between the laboratory and the library, and between the scientific experiment and the poem. It is an experience that confirms that the future may be created by those who are able to combine reason and imagination, logic and dreaming.
