Exiled Writers Ink ! - Poetry Cafe

2010

• Monday 1st March at 7.30

EXILED WRITERS INK with U4I - UNITED FOR IRAN

at the Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX

An Evening with Esmail Khoi: Voice of Iranian Resistance

Esmail Khoi is one of Iran's most acclaimed poets. For decades now, he has been at the centre of the country's intellectual and aesthetic upheavals. He was educated in Iran and England. His voice, mixing a defiant poetic persona with the philosophical musings of a contemplative intellectual, at home or in the Diaspora, Khoi has fashioned a voice that is both unique and deeply rooted in the best traditions of Persian poetry.

Guitar and Song by the Sahra Band with Sahand and Sahra

• Monday 1st February at 7.30

THE JEWISH DIASPORA - BABYLON, BELARUS AND BEYOND

Moris (Musa) Farhi, MBE, born Ankara, is a prize-winning, novelist, poet, playwright, TV scriptwriter, essayist and human rights activist. A vice president of International P.E.N, he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His novels include ‘Children of the Rainbow’, ‘Young Turk’ and the recently published, ‘A Designated Man’.
Professor Haim Bresheeth, is an Israeli filmmaker, photographer and now film scholar at the University of East London. Writer and poet, his books include ‘Introduction to the Holocaust’.
Dr Frank Grozsmann, born Budapest, lived throughout the Nazi Occupation and from 1948, the Communist takeover. Escaped to UK in 1957. A Consulting Engineer by profession he is also a published poet and translator.
Ivy Vernon, attended school and university in Baghdad . In 1970 she and her family fled from the terror of Saddam. Her highly acclaimed book 'Bagdad Memories' recalls the life of a Jewish girl and her community against a changing political background.

There will be Jewish music from the Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Mizrahi cultures

Hosted by Esther Lipton

• Monday 4th January at 7.30

VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES + MUSIC

Yoruba Man Aghast 2007 (Pastel on paper): Aritst: Francis Akpata

Amanda Epe: Amanda is a London born and bred African of Nigerian-Ghanian heritage. A creative writer at heart, producing essays and poetry and stepping into short stories. She owns two published poems- 'The Diaspora' and 'Afro- Britons'. Her essays are memoirs of personal experiences. She has recently created a space for similar writers to share their experiences and short stories. Life is not all about the pleasure of writing, her regular work is in Education.

Ayo Akinfe: born in Salford, Manchester , is a London-based journalist who has worked as a magazine and newspaper editor for the last 20 years. Spent his key formative years in Nigeria where he saw the kind of horrors poverty, an unfair trading environment, under-development, corruption and mismanagement visits on African countries. Fuelling the Delta Fires, recently published is one of a series of novels aimed at highlighting Africa ’s sorry plight and the misleading image peddled about her.

Handsen Chikowore: Handsen is originally from Zimbabwe and was forced to leave by the Mugabe regime. He started writing poems in Shona when he was 15. His poems have been published in different journals, newspapers and magazines across the globe. Professionally, he is an accountant.

Bryan Bailey: He is black British of Caribean parentage and grew up in England.
I write to be able to share my feelings and express my deepest thoughts. If others can relate, then that makes me happy. I have been "playing about with words" since i was 13 years old. Only recently in the past couple of years being encouraged by friends and family to take a more "serious approach". Either way, its still fun and love coming up with new poems when i can. I'll approach any subject that takes my fancy. Any thing that i feel really passionate about. I have appeared regularly on radio (Roots FM), had poems printed in publications such as the Voice Newspaper and GMag, a bi-monthly entertainment magazine.

Hosted by Chinwe Azubuike and Francis Akpata

2009

• Monday 7th December at 7.30

WE HAVE A DREAM
An evening with writers from Albania, Kosova and the UK
Organised and hosted by Valbona Ismaili Luta

Fatmir Terziu an Albanian writer, critic, journalist and filmmaker. Some of the books he published are: Don't Silence (Mos Hesht) poetry 2000; Walking on Glass (Ecje ne Qelq), poetry 2006; The Argadas Devil (Djalli i Argadasit) short stories 2005; The Mysterious Woman (Misteriozja), short stories 2009; A Different Critique: An Insight Into Albanian Poetry and Prose; Media, Technology and Everyday Life, etc.

Arta Dedaj from Prishtina (Kosova), poet and lawyer, has had her poems published in various literary magazines and papers in Kosova and also in London in “Sharing the Pain” in 1999. She did the Albanian/English translation for the BBC1 Everyman documentary programme “Whose Home is it Anyway” in 1993 and was also published in “Homes and Gardens” exhibition catalogue by Melanie Friend in 1996.

Elizabeth Gowing is a writer of non-fiction books, journalism and poetry. Land of Blood and Honey; my journey to become a beekeeper in Kosova was completed last year. She is now working on Edith and I, a book narrating travels in the footsteps of Edith Durham through London, Kosova and Albania. Her poems have been published in over thirty magazines and anthologies including Staple, Poetry Nottingham International, Ambit, The New Writer and Orbis, as well as being read on the BBC World Service’s Poems by Post.

Robert Wilton, writer and consultant, advisor to two Kosova Prime Ministers in the lead-up to independence, has had his short stories widely-published, along with translations from Albanian. He now divides his time between London, Cornwall and Kosova, focusing, amongst others, on an historical novel.

The evening will be accompanied by Albanian folk music by Eliza and Mirdita Dedgjonaj.

The evening, to be held on Monday December 7th will also be marking the 10th anniversary of the foundation of Exiled Writers Ink with members talking about their memories of the successful ten years.

• Monday 2nd November at 7.30

UNVEILED VOICES
an evening of Arabic women authors and musicians

Hanan Al-Shaykh

is a Lebanese novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, one of the leading contemporary women writers in the Arab world. Her stories deal with women's role in society, the relationship between the sexes, and the institution of marriage. Her novels have been translated into English, French, Dutch, German, Danish, Italian, Korean, Spanish, and Polish.

Ghalia Kabbani

is a Syrian writer. She spent her childhood in Kuwait, leaving after the invasion in 1990. She has worked as a journalist since 1979. In 1992 she published a volume of short stories and in 1998 her first novel, The Mirror of Summer, in Cairo. Her second collection of short stories was published in 2003, and her third in 2005.

Hosted by poet: Fathieh Saudi.

• Monday 5th October 2009 at 7.30pm

COMMITTED

Manoj, poet (India)

Adam Tunji on guitar (Nigeria)

Fathieh Saudi, poet (Jordan)

Andrea Pisac, prose (Croatia)

Ghias Al-Jundi (Syria)

+ OPEN MIC

Host: Ghias

Poetry

• Monday 7th September 2009

EXILED FROM TURKISH SPACES

Alev Adil

Alev Adil was born in Cyprus and grew up in Turkey, Cyprus and London, where she now lives. Her first collection of poems Venus Infers was published in 2004. Her poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and she has performed her poetry in London and at poetry festivals. Her work has also been broadcast on Radio 4 and Channel 4 in the UK. She is part of Poetz for Peace, a bi-communal UN funded Cypriot writers’ and musicians’ collective. She lectures at the University of Greenwich where she is head of the Department of Creative, Critical and Communication Studies and she is a patron of Exiled Writers Ink.

Ahmet Atas

Kurdish poet and journalist; he writes in Turkish. He was born in a Kurdish town, Batman, in the east of Turkey. He is a sociology graduate of Ankara Hacettepe University. His poems and essays were published in various well known Turkish literature periodicals including Varlik, Defter, Sonra Edebiyat, Kunduz Dusleri and Kavram Karmasa. He won the 1998 Poetry Award of Human Rights Association for his five poems. His first poetry book, titled Suskun Kavallar Medresesi (Madrasa of Silent Reedpipes), was published in 2004. He moved to London in 2005. He is an editor of a Kurdish/Turkish London weekly paper.

Fatma Durmush

Ms Durmush has nine books under her belt. She started to paint when she was mugged and since then has gained a first degree and a Masters in Art. Durmush is good at many things from cooking to art, poetry, short stories and plays.

Sevim Gorgu

was born in Eastern Turkey and has lived in the UK since 1990. She is a short story writer and poet and also a Turkish classical music singer who performed with "Group Nihavend" for several years.

Aydin Mehmet Ali

was born in Cyprus. She is an award-winning author and her short stories have appeared in various anthologies and journals, including Silver Throat of the Moon: Writing in Exile. Her first short story collection was entitled Pink Butterflies/Bize Dair (2005). She is also an international education consultant, project manager and researcher.

• Monday 3 August 2009 at 7:30pm

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

Great new poetry by

Adnan Al-Sayegh (Iraq)

Gareeb Iskander (Iraq)

Maria Jastrzebska (Poland)

Shirin Razavian (Iran)

Music: Gadjo Form Band

you know it

Adnan Al-Sayegh: On several occasions, international award-winning poet, Adnan Al-Sayegh’s life has been threatened as a result of his powerful readings in his native Iraq. Forced into exile by militia disturbed by his critical irreverence, his poetry sweeps all of life up into a linguistic call to artistic arms.

Gareeb Iskander: Journalist and poet, Gareeb Iskander pursues his dreams of Baghdad through the mists of London, illustrating his work with poetic themes such as the sea, exile, life and sadness. He uses both ancient Iraqi and contemporary international symbols evocatively.

Maria Jastrzebska: born in Warsaw, lives in Brighton. Her collections include Postcards from Poland, Home from Home, Syrena and I'll be back before you know it. She was co-editor of Forum Polek, a bilingual anthology of women's writing, Poetry South and Whoosh. Her work has been widely translated.

Shirin Razavian’s fourth publication, Which Shade of Blue is currently being published in London. She fled Iran due to censorship and in the UK continues to write politically astute poetry, remaining resolute in her pursuit of human rights.

Music: Gadjo Form: Polish Band: These unsigned gems burst onto the folk scene with melodic effervescence in 2008. Listing Roman, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Polish, Macedonian and Hindu folk music as inspiration, Gadjo Form’s style is full of energy and poignancy. Zuza, Greg and Darek deliver stunning sounds.

www.myspace.com/gadjoform

OPEN MIC

Hosted by Aisha Dennis.

• Monday 6 July 2009 at 7:30pm

SRI LANKAN AND TAMIL VOICES - What Now?

Photo: Pedro Ugarte

Talks, readings and discussions from renowned and award winning Sri Lankan poets and novelists: their response through prose and verse to the violence and the clampdown on freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.

ROHINI HENSMAN, author of the novel Playing Lions and Tigers, shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize (2002), and To Do Something Beautiful. Active in the labour and women's liberation movements, and anti-war campaigns and struggles against the oppression of religious and ethnic minorities in India and Sri Lanka.

SIVAMOHAN SUMATHY, award winning playwright, poet, writer and film maker, author of In the Shadow of the Gun. Performed nationally and internationally her theatre of risk, and received critical acclaim for her two short films, Piralayam (Upheaval) and Oranges. Teaches at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her sister, Nirmala, will read from her poetry.

LAKSHMI HOLMSTROM, writer and translator, past Fellow at University of East Anglia. Author of Silappadikaram and Manimekalai, her re-telling of the fifth-century Tamil narrative poems, editor of The Inner Courtyard: Short Stories by Indian Women, and recipient of India's Crossword Book Award. She will read from her translations of Sri Lankan and Tamil poets, R. Cheran, S. Sivaramani and others.

Tamil songs : Nirmala Rajasingam. Hosted by Miriam Frank

• Monday 1 June 2009 at 7:30pm

Risk in Poetry: Literature of Post-Exile: Video clips on YouTube of an amazing evening:

Risk of Poetry delivers a collage of poetry, literary theory, imagery, fantasy, voices, music, exile, before and long after, by London S-kool - an avant guarde band of multi-lingual poets and critics, who aim to create poetry and text from hybridisation of languages, genres and lifestyles in order to endanger the tranquillity of norms and shake up the standards of the literary genre, bringing together Ali Abdolrezaei, Parham Shahrjerdi, Abol Froushan, Mansor Pooyan, to propose the new directions in the Risk. Their aim is a globalisation of poetry through literary exchange between English, Persian, French, etc. (7 languages in the latest issue of poetrymag.info) in a context of post exile, through translation and analysis.

The event is on the occasion of the publication of Parham's multilingual book of the same title. http://www.poetrymag.ws/chapkhaneh/books/khatar_sher_parham_shahrjerdi.pdf

• Monday 11th May 2009 at 7.30

The Writer as Witness

with eminent poets:
Alev Adil
Blake Morrison
and exiled poets:
Eric Charles (Cameroon)
Jorge Salgado (Chile)
Hosted by Mir Mahfuz Ali

• Monday 6th April 2009 at 7.30

'Heartlands: Reflections on Nature'

with

Mahfuz Ali, (Bangladesh)

Albert Pellicer accompanied by Vicky Cespedes (Spain) - poetry to music

Mamoon Alabassi (Iraq)

Freddy Macha (Tanzania) - music and poetry

Janan Saab (British-Lebanese)

Sandra Eros (England)

Shanta Acharya (India)

• Monday 2nd March 2009 at 7.30 pm

The Young Ones

born in many countries

Photos: J. Hazwan

An amazing night of poetry, rap, drama and music

Osamah Al-Tamimy is 21 years old and is originally from Iraq. He spent only a few months there due to the instability in his home country, particularly the hardships and deprivation of daily life resulting from the United Nations sanctions regime imposed by the US and Britain. His play, 'Arab in the West' was inspired by his own life and experiences. It aims to challenge prejudicial assumptions about Arabs and especially, about young Muslim men, in a climate of hostility and suspicion. 'Arab in the West' was performed to critical acclaim in five locations in 2008 including Sloane Square and Ladbroke Grove, London, as part of the Royal Court Theatre's programme, 'Unheard Voices' and 'Across the Street, Around the World', organised by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Sahra Mohammed was born in 1987 in Somalia and came to the UK when she was five years old, fleeing the civil war with her family. She had no schooling in Somalia and feels most comfortable writing in English (the language of her education). She writes mainly about things that affect her socially and about Somalia. She says “I’m no great activist but I find myself drawn to causes and I have real empathy with anyone who may have experienced war first hand or anyone who's families may have been involved in wars or struggles.” Sahra writes poetry which recently won her a place on a prestigious Arvon Foundation course. Sahra sees herself as fitting in with the longstanding Somali tradition of storytelling and is currently working on short stories.

Fatima Hagi was born in 1985 in Somalia. She left her home country due to the civil war that broke out in 1991, fleeing to Kenya. She came to London a year later. Prior to this she had no formal schooling but settled well into school, quickly learning English and falling “in love with books and words from an early age”. She has been since adolescence, both because she found it therapeutic and to express herself and the way she felt about the world and the people around me. She writes poetry, short stories and speeches and is currently taking a degree in English Literature. Her inspiration, she says, “comes from my mother and grandmother who started life out as poor nomads and struggled to make a life for themselves and their children, under the most extreme circumstances.”

Abdi Bahdon is a gifted 18-year-old poet, lyricist and actor who was born in Somalia. He has starred in a film entitled Mash Up, the ITV series The Bill and a theatre production entitled Ghetto Faces. Abdi faced appalling violence in Somalia and was left with a paralysed arm and broken ribs after being caught up in a car explosion. He lost his family and friends when he fled to the UK with a group of refugees, who later abandoned him. Abdi is currently studying A levels in Sociology, Physiology and English. Abdi’s writing is inspired by his horrific experiences and by the hardship and pain faced by people in his homeland. His poignant poems appear in Silent Voices.

Daniel Silverstein is in his twenties and has been writing and performing his own unique blend of rap/poetry since 2001. Daniel has been an community activist and youth worker since his teenage years and works in youth groups, schools and campuses on educational and cultural events, and especially in interfaith. Hel has performed in venues and at festivals all over the UK as well as in the USA, Paris, Budapest and the Czech Republic. In 2007 Daniel established Psychosemitic, a Muslim-Jewish-Middle Eastern events and education agency that runs programmes to bring people together for education and celebration. Daniel enjoys combining this work with poetry and rapping in creative workshops, both on his own and with Mohammed Yahya

Mohammed Yahya is in his twenties and was born in Mozambique, but was forced to leave the country during the civil war. He moved to Portugal, where he began to show an interest in music, partly due to his fathers influence as a singer. Being surrounded by poverty, Mohammed used music and poetry to channel his thoughts, energy and emotion in a positive manner. Later, having moved to London, Mohammed met Ironbraydz and formed Blind Alphabetz, a project which achieved collaborations and performances with top-level artists such as RZA from The Wu Tang Clan, M1 from Dead Prez

Mohammed, studied Buddhism, then converted to Islam following an eye-opening trip to Gambia where he was touched by the peace and unity of the beautiful people he met there.

Lines of Faith

Produced and performed by Daniel and Mohammed, is a fusion of Islamic and Jewish words and music with jazz, blues, reggae, funk and hip hop, carrying a strong Universalist message of peace and unity which appeals as much to those of other and no faiths as to devout (and non!) Muslims and Jews.

Hosted by Shereen Pandit and Aisha Dennis

• Monday 23rd February 2009 at 7.30 pm
(The previously postponed event on 2nd February will now take place Upstairs at the Poetry Place)

LATIN AMERICAN POETRY AND MUSIC

Enchanting Words and Sounds

with

Sofia Buchuck: music and voice from the memory of Peru

Accordion from Colombia by Flakito.

Sofia will share poems from her last poetry collection Orange Nights Iin Autumn

Silvia Demetila: music from Argentina

Alfredo Cordal: poetry in exile from Chile

Isabel Ross Lopes: music and poetry from her experiences as a migrant and diasporic spanish music and voice.

Dante Concha: enchanting panpipes and history of the magical pipes from Peru.

Hosted by Esther Lipton

• Monday 5th January 2009 at 7.30 pm

For Freddy Macha's blog on this Exiled Lit Cafe evening, see http://www.freddymacha.blogspot.com

HOME OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE: AN EVENING OF AMERICAN EXPATRIATE POETS

Poetry and Music with

A cultural migrant from Texas, Amy Corzine is a poet, writer, editor and teacher. Her poems have been published in 'Kindred Spirit', 'The Delhi-London Quarterly', 'Caduceus' and literary magazines. She hopes her new book entitled The Secret Life of the Universe: The Quest for the Soul of Science (Watkins, UK, 2008) will inspire people to return to the ecological, nature-centric view our technology-based world has left behind. She aims to explore psychospiritual realms further, from which she believes all great works of poetry and fiction come. She has also produced a graphic novel adaptation for Jane Eyre and a family travel guide Take the Kids: Ireland.

is a London-based American poet, singer and musician, and half of former Anglo-American indie/folk duo 'The Dear Janes'. Her poems have appeared in UK print/online magazines including Magma and The Interpreter's House and Limelight; and anthologies, including Four Caves of the Heart (Second Light Publications) and Gobby Deegan's Riposte (Donut Press). As a singer/musician/writer, she was one-half of 'The Dear Janes' and continues to work in various projects, currently as part of the band Vachement Bath.

"The daughter of two 'shrinks', a black man from Chicago and a Lithuanian Jew, Melanie McKay (nee Shed) was born and raised in Manhattan where she was not nearly as exotic as she seemed to be during the last seven years when she lived in Devon. Melanie's poetry and prose reflect life as she sees it."

EXILED WRITERS INK! presents an evening of poetry and readings with award winning writers - Cypriotturkish Aydin Mehmet Ali and Valdemar Kalinin from Belorussia.

Both speakers have written academic books, poems and stories, and are internationally famous. Aydin is a well known member of Britain's Cypriot community, while Valdemar plays an active role in the Roma community in Britain.

Musical acts
NIHAVEND perform classical Turkish music
Soulful jazz from Sara and Kal
PALINKA play Transylvanian music

TWO EXILED POETS AND AN EXILED PROSE WRITER:
EXILED WRITERS FROM BANGLADESH, IRAN AND SOUTH AFRICA

Mir Mahfuz Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and studied at Essex university. He dances, acts, has worked as a male model and a tandoori chef. He has given readings and performances at the Royal Opera House and other theatres in Britain and beyond. His poems have appeared in London Magazine, Poetry London, Ambit and Exiled Ink. He is currently preparing his first collection for publication. He has been working closely with his mentor, Moniza Alvi and was short-listed for the New Writing Ventures Awards 2007.

Shereen Pandit was a South African lawyer and political activist before coming into exile in the UK in 1987 where she completed a PhD in Law. Her short stories have appeared in many anthologies and magazines and have won several prizes including the Booktrust London Award. Her articles and reviews have appeared in several magazines.

Shirin Razavian was born in Tehran where she studied Persian and English Literature. Because of the censorship and lack of freedom of expression, she fled her country and started building a new life in London. She has published three Persian poetry books in London in 1995, 1999 and 2001. Her Farsi-English book Which Shade of Blue? is being published in the USA shortly. Shirin has had several radio and TV interviews with the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Azadi, Radio Israel and other Persian exiled media.

plus discussion

Their chap books, published 2008 by Exiled Writers Ink, will be available:
A Golden Bowl by Mir Mahfuz Ali, Flamingoes at Sunset by Shereen Pandit and Free Fall by Shirin Razavian.
Hosted by Nathalie Teitler

• Monday 12th May 2008

INVISIBLE REALITIES

Vahni Capildeo born in Trinidad, 1973 came to England in 1991 to study English and then Old Norse. She has worked at Girton College, Cambridge and at the Oxford English Dictionary, and currently is a contributing editor at the Caribbean Review of Books. She has returned often to Trinidad and spent time in Iceland. Books: No Traveller Returns (Salt, 2003); Person Animal Figure (Landfill, 2005); The Undraining Sea (looking for a home). Her poems and prose have appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Agenda, Oxford Magazine, Poetry Salzburg, Poetry Wales, Sentence, Stand, Tears in the Fence, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse, London: City of Disappearances (ed. Iain Sinclair) and Trinidad Noir (Akashic, forthcoming 2008).

Pascale Petit, a renowned poet, she has published four prize-winning poetry collections and was twice shortlisted for TS Eliot Prize. Pascale Petit's last two collections, The Zoo Father and The Huntress, were both shortlisted for the TS Eliot prize. A poem from The Zoo Father was also shortlisted for the Forward prize for best individual poem. A Next Generation Poet, she has been Poetry Editor of Poetry London and tutors at Oxford University and Middlesex University where she is the Royal Literary Fund Fellow.

Saradha Soobrayen received an Eric Gregory Award in 2004. Her poems are published in Wasafiri, Poetry Review, and in the anthologies This Little Stretch of Life (HearingEye), I am twenty people! (Enitharmon), New Writing 15 (Granta/The British Council 2007), New Poetries IV, (Carcanet) and the 2007 Oxford Poets Anthology (Carcanet). Her short fiction appears in Kin: New Fiction by Black and Asian Women. (Serpents’ Tail, 2003) Saradha facilitates poetry workshops, mentoring and professional development for writers.

Invited guests:
Gisela Jachniuk: Argentinean poetry danced tango by Diana
Maria Eugenia Bravo: Chilean poet
Sofia Buchuck: Peruvian poetry and music
Luzmira Zerpa: Venezuela
Luz Martines: from Mexico
Colombian tales: by Miriam Ojeda Patino

Mehrangiz Rassapour was born in south east of Iran ( Khoram-abad) and came to England in 1983. Her books of poetry are entitled “Jaragheh Zood Mimirad” (SPARK DIES AT ONCE) Iran, 1992, AND THEN THE SUN” ( . . . Va Sepass Aftaab) England, “BEYOND The WINGS Of The BIRD” (Parandeh Digar,Nah), Germany. Her works have been published in several languages, such as English, German, Norwegian and various others. She is the chief editor of “VAJEH” (Word ) a magazine for Iranian literature and Culture www.vajehmagazine.com

Ghias Al Jundi Poet, writer and human rights activist will read his work. Originally from Syria he lives in exile in London after being persecuted for writing in a human rights magazine in his home country. He wrote for student newspapers in Syria and has freelanced for al-Safir in Beirut and al-Quds al-Arabi in London. He has been living in London for 8 years, writes poetry and short stories and has had one play performed in London. He is a committee member of Exiled Writers Ink and a volunteer for Amnesty International, and is involved in the Write to Life project - a creative writing programme for torture survivors coordinated by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.

An evening of plays by the eminent playwrights:Parvin Soltani and Ghazi Rabihavi

First performance of 'Lili's Story' by Parvin Soltani and performance of Ghazi Rabihavi's play 'The Hat'.

Jewish Exile

Haike Beruriah and Stephen Watts reading the work of the poet, Stencl, in Yiddish and English. (Published 2007, Five Leaves).
Haike Beruriah reading her own poetry.
Judith Silver singing in Yiddish and Ladino
Sizen Yiacoup reading in Ladino
Renee Martin reading Ladino poetry and her own short stories.

Bart Wolffe was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1952 and left in 2002 for exile in Germany via London. He is a Zimbabwean leading playwright with work performed in nine countries. His fourteen plays include The Sisyphus Road (2002), The Art of Accidental Stains (2002) and Killing Rats (2001). He worked extensively, not only in Zimbabwe, but throughout the countries of Southern Africa as well as in Edinburgh running theatre and play writing workshops and touring shows as well as performing. He has several published books, mostly poetry, including of coffee cups and cigarettes (1991) and Changing Skins. His work has been included in numerous anthologies such as New Accents, a joint anthology of five African poets and his collection of short stories is entitled A Twist of Tales (1989). His novel Eye of the Witness (1995) is unpublished for fear of political repercussions. He was a freelance journalist and was involved in the media in film, television, print and radio. Sitcoms and features included observations on society and its issues in Zimbabwe. Waiters, Dr Juju and many more, and his theatre columns commented on the use of stage as a social platform where government control had not altogether taken over the artists' voices. However, the banning of all independent newspapers and the jamming of radio stations curtailed his freedom to continue to make a living as a writer and free thinker. The lack of freedom of expression meant that continuing as an artist in Zimbabwe became impossible.

Son of a Superintendent of schools, Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu, Nigerian poet, novelist and short story writer, was born on 16 January, 1968. He began writing fiction at the age of fifteen, and since then has written five novels, eight collections of poems and two books of short stories.
His third novel, BOSHETH WILLIAMS, was published in England in 2003. A political, recommendable literary fiction for colleges and universities, the novel was to generate controversies that riled the anger of the northern section of his country. For this reason, Ogbuagu seeks sanctuary in Britain as an exiled writer.

HAMID ISMAILOV from UZBEKISTAN
Uzbek journalist and writer forced to flee Uzbekistan in 1992, since when he lives in the UK and works at the BBC World Service. He is a prolific writer of prose and poetry, and his books have been published in Uzbek, Russian, French, German, Turkish and other languages; his works are banned in Uzbekistan.. He has also translated Russian and Western classics into Uzbek, and Uzbek and Persian classics into Russian and some Western languages. His novel The Railway, written before he left Uzbekistan, was the first to be translated into English by Robert Chandler (with Ismailov in this photograph), and published in 2006.

SELMA ORTIZ from CHILE
Left Chile in 1979 for England after months of persecution, intimidation and terrorisation following Pinochet’s coup against Allende. She studied English literature at the university in Chile and was passionate about Shakespeare and US authors: books by the black poet Langston Hughes intensified police questioning the night her husband was brutally detained in 1978. She has been a teacher, actor, scriptwriter and stage manager of women’s plays in the UK, and researcher for documentary films. She was a producer and broadcaster at the BBC World Service, and now belongs to a literary workshop of Chilean women in Britain and devotes herself to writing.

PHILIPPA REES from SOUTH AFRICA
Born in South Africa of British and Dutch ancestry on opposing sides during the Boer war, her childhood was divided between imitation English boarding schools and camping safaris with her grandfather who inspected African schools in the remotest reaches of the British protectorates, giving her an intimate view of African tribal life. Consequently, as neither white supremacist, nor black freedom fighter, nor a communist, after graduating from university she joined the exodus of so called ‘liberals’ without a platform in 1964, finally settling in England in 1970. She writes fiction, plays and poetry.

• Monday 8th October 2007 (2nd Monday of the month)

Rain Cries in Kew Gardens
SHIU QAN NË KEW GARDENS

The evening is dedicated to one of the greatest Kosovar Albanian poets:
Rrahman Dedaj who recently died in exile in London:
with poetry performed by his daughter, Arta Dedaj and other Kosovan poets and musicians
Chair: Valbona Ismaili Luta
plus
Open Mic session

Fathieh Saudi born in Jordan, will be launching her new poetry book: The Prophets.She completed her medical studies in France. Her books include L'Oubli Rebel, Days of Amber and The Prophets and she has translated books from English and French into Arabic. She is a recipient of several human rights awards.

Tajia Al-Baghdady is a graduate of Baghdad University, College of Arts in Arabic Studies. In Iraq, she was headmistress of a girls secondary school. Tajia is a published author whose poetry has been published in the Middle East and in London based newspapers such as Asharq Al Awsat. She spent 18 years of her exiled life teaching Arabic, Art and Islamic Studies in London until her recent early retirement which she is devoting to writing and research.

Lynette Craig holds an MPhil in Writing and leads poetry workshops with refugee groups and mentors and edits their work. Her own collection, Burning Palaces, (Flarestack), explores dispossession and persecution in her own family heritage.

Jennifer Langer - Jennifer Langer's poetry on the complexity of identity, confronts difficult issues. She is editor of three anthologies of exiled literature: The Bend in the Road, Crossing the Border: Voices of Exiled Women Writers and The Silver Throat of the Moon: Writing in Exile (Five Leaves). Her forthcoming book is If Salt Had Memory: Jewish Exiled Writers from Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East (Five Leaves). She has an MA in Cultural Memory.

John Subbiah is a well recognised Sitar musician and disciple of Ravi Shankar. He also plays the Arabic oud and guitar. His passion is in sitar fusion with multi-cultural ethnic music. he is currently engaged in international peace work through his music.

Soleïman Adel Guémar
whose poetry book State of Emergency has just been published by Arc. Rooted in Algerian experience, it speaks of urgent concerns everywhere – oppression, resistance, state violence, traumas and private dreams.Soleiman Adel Guemar was born and raised in Algiers where he worked as a journalist. He also published numerous stories and won two national poetry prizes. In 2002 he left Algeria to seek safety for himself and his family in the UK.

Jean-Louis N'tadi
Playwright Jean-Louis N'tadi was born in 1964 in Congo-Brazzaville. A political activist with the main opposition party and a Red Cross humanitarian worker, he was dubiously charged by the government with "trafficking information" and defamation. His works include the Le Chef de l'Etat, a parable highly critical of the presidency of Sassou-Nguesso, Vendu, Verve d'une Creature and Monsieur le Maire and L'Acte de Naissance, two volumes written during his detention at Campsfield. He also writes poetry.

Cristina Viti is a poet and translator. Published work includes translations of Dino Campana and Elsa Morante.

Janet Simon comes from the East End of London and was educated at York and Oxford Universities. She lived in Paris throughout the 1970s and became fluent in French. Returning to London she worked with deaf, homeless and older people and with asylum seekers. Janet was a prizewinner in the 1991 National Poetry competition. In 1995 she published a collection of poems called "Victoria Park" (Loxwood-Stoneleigh), and in 2006 her pamphlet Asylum was produced by Hearing Eye.

Tom Cheesman will be reading Adel's work in English.He lectures in German at Swansea University, and recently finished a book on contemporary German Turkish novelists, which will appear in November 2007. He set up and runs Hafan Books, a not-for-profit publisher, which has produced five anthologies since 2003, all featuring writing by refugees and asylum seekers dispersed to Wales, and other writers in Wales who donate their poems, stories and other pieces. The project raises public awareness of refugee issues and raises funds for the local asylum seekers support group. See www.hafan.org

Nazand Begikhani:
Kurdish poet whose first collection in English Bells of Speech was published by Ambit, 2006

Moniza Ali:
Born in Pakistan, Moniza grew up in England. She has published five books of poetry, the most recent being How The Stone Found Its Voice, 2005.

Richard McKane:
He has translated over 20 books from both Russian and Turkish. He is also a poet whose books include Poet for Poet and Coffeehouse Poems.

Tara Jaff:
Kurdish harpist and singer who studied Western Classical music and piano at the Musical Academy in Baghdad.

CHAIR: Fathieh Saudi
Poet and recipient of several human rights awards. She is current Chair of Exiled Writers Ink.

• Monday, 4th June 2007

Exiled African Women Writing Across A Continent

an evening of African poetry and prose with:
Shireen Pandit prize winning South African short story writer and novelist
Soad El-Rgaig - Libyan writer
Chinwe Azubuike -Nigerian poet and activist
Roda Mire - Somali writer
Chair: Nathalie Teitler

Visiting from France:
Yvan Tetelbom:the performance poet born in Algeria and exiled in France with Polish, Algerian and Jewish origins.
Accompanied by Cristiane Bonnay: classical accordionist, born in Dakar, Senegal.

Visiting Iraqi Jewish writer exiled in Canada:
Naim Kattan, author of 'Farewell Baghdad' and numerous other books, in conversation with the Iraqi writer exiled in the UK:
Khalid Kishtainy, satirist, prolific writer and author of 'Tales From Old Baghdad, Grandma and I' .
Chair: Jennifer Langer, MA

AN EVENING WITH DALJIT NAGRA TO LAUNCH HIS LATEST POETRY BOOK:
LOOK, WE HAVE COMING TO DOVER! published by Faber and Faber, 2007

His poems have been widely published and his pamphlet, Oh My Rub!, was a Smith/Doorstep Books winner. He was winner of The Forward Poetry Prize for 'Look We Have Coming to Dover!', a poem about the experience of his Punjabi parents when they first came to Britain.

• Monday, 8th January 2007

Dissident Russian poet ILYA KORMILTSEV in conversation with English poet and translator ROBERT CHANDLER

Chaired by Miriam Frank

llya Kormiltsev became known in the mid-eighties as the lyricist-producer of the popular Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius. During perestroika the band gained a massive following and Kormiltsev's lyrics were sung and quoted throughout Russia. After close to twenty recorded albums, the band split up in 1997. Kormiltsev has translated into Russian works ranging from W. S. Burroughs and Irvine Welsh, to Tom Stoppard and C. S. Lewis. A collection of Kormiltsev’s own poetry, short stories and plays was published in Nobody From Nowhere (2005). In 2002 Kormiltsev founded Ultra.Kultura Publishers which is dedicated to transgressive and provocative books. In its short existence, Ultra.Kultura has gained notoriety and now has the highest number of lawsuits per year.

Robert Chandler is the translator of Vasily Grossman’s ‘Life and Fate’, as well as of Pushkin's ‘Dubrovsky’ and Leskov's ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’. His co-translations of Andrey Platonov have won prizes in both the UK and the US. He is the editor of ‘Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida’. His translations from languages other than Russian include selections of Sappho and Apollinaire., and his most recent translation is of Hamid Ismailov's ‘The Railway’ a witty and exuberant novel set in Uzbekistan. He especially enjoys translating in collaboration with other people. He teaches part time at Queen Mary College, University of London. His next translation projects are Pushkin’s ‘The Captain’s Daughter’, Platonov’s long novel ‘Chevengur’ and more works by Vasily Grossman – most likely his short novel ‘Everything Flows’. He also hopes to compile an anthology of Russian fairy tales.

Sonja Besford was born in Belgrade. In Serbian she has published two books of poetry, two collections of short stories and a novel. In English she is the author of two plays, several short stories, poems and many reviews of contemporary literature. Her first poetry collection written in English is entitled 'Arrivals and Departures'. Her new collection is entitled 'memories of summers in brist near gradac', (Ambit Books)

Fawzi Karim was born in Baghdad in 1945. In 1968 he graduated from the University of Baghdad and published his first poetry book Haith Tebda' al-Ashia'a (Where Things Begin). He migrated to Beirut in 1969, where he published his second collection Arfa'au Ydi Ihtijajan (I Raise My Hand in Protest). He returned to Baghdad and published his third collection Junun min al-Hajar (Madness of Stone), and two books of nonfiction, one on exile and the other on the Iraqi author, Admon Sabri. In 1978, he migrated to London where he still lives. In exile, he published three more books of poetry. His Selected Poems was published in 1995 in Cairo. In 2000 his Complete Poetry was published in Damascus by Dar al-Mada. In addition to his regular writing for newspapers on classical music and on painting, he edits his own quarterly al-lahdha al-Shi'iria (Poetic Moment).

Anthony Howell was born in 1945. After an early spell dancing with the Royal Ballet, he decided to concentrate on poetry and performance art. In 1973 he was invited to the International Writing Program in Iowa and in 1974 he founded The Theatre of Mistakes, a performance company which made notable appearances at the Cambridge Poetry Festival, The Paris Biennale and the Hayward Gallery as well as in New York. He has published six previous books of poetry and a novel and received major bursaries from the Arts Councils of England and Wales. In 1997 he was short-listed for a Paul Hamlyn Award. His book The Analysis of Performance Art: a guide to its theory and practice is a key text in the field of performance art.
and

Israeli songwriter-guitarist: Arnon Zohar Naor, who also teaches film studies

• Monday, 6th November 2006

Mountain Poetry of Exile
YUYUTSU RAM DASS SHARMA
Indian poet exiled in Nepal launching

'Way to Everest: a photographic and poetic journey to the foot of Everest'

Recipient of fellowships and grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, Irish Literature Exchange, The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature and The Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature, Yuyutsu RD Sharma is a distinguished poet and translator. He has published six poetry collections, including, The Lake Fewa and a Horse: Poems New (Nirala, 2005) and a picture book, www.WayToEverest.de: A Photographic and Poetic Journey to the Foot of Everest, ( Epsilonmedia , Germany , 2006) with German photographer Andreas Stimm. He has translated and edited several anthologies of contemporary Nepali poetry in English and launched a literary movement, Kathya Kayakalpa (Content Metamorphosis) in poetry. Yuyutsu’s own work has been translated into German, French, Italian, Hebrew, Spanish and Dutch. He lives in Kathmandu where he edits Pratik, A Magazine of Contemporary Writing and contributes literary columns to Nepal ’s leading dailies, The Himalayan Times and The Kathmandu Post. He is completing his first novel.

A rare collection of Kurdish twentieth-century poetry translated into English for the series Endangered Languages and Cultures. Thirty Kurdish poets, from Haji Taufiq Peeramerd and Abdullah Goran to Sara Faqé Khidir and Choman Hardi, are represented. An introduction to Kurdish literature has been authored by Rafiq Sabir.
Stephen Watts is a poet and editor, much involved in translation studies. His own poetry has been published as The Lava's Curl (1990, repr. 2002) and Gramsci & Caruso, Selected Poems 1977-1997 (2003) as well as a bilingual selection of his work in Czech translation. He has co-edited Voices of Conscience : Prison Poems (1995), Mother Tongues: Non English-Language Poetry In England (2001) and Music While Drowning : German Expressionist Poems (2003) and has compiled a very extensive bibliography of 20th century poetry in English translation. His interest in Hungarian poetry is long-standing.

Memories, Myths and Migrations:
Poetry and Music from Sri Lanka, Ireland and beyond

Sri Lankan poet Pireeni Sundaralingam and Irish composer/violinist Colm O'Riain weave together poetry and music in a series of duets exploring the rich interconnections between a host of lyric traditions, including Irish ballad and Indian raag.

• Monday, 4th September 2006

The Eye of the Storm:
Exiled male and female writers from Iraq, Pakistan, Cyprus and Kurdistan speak out about gendered violence

Samira Al Mana was born in Basra, Iraq and is author of five novels, a play and collections of short stories. Her new novella is entitled The Oppressors and her novel Umbilical Cord was recently translated into English. She was the deputy editor of Alightrab Al-Adabi, a magazine of exile.

Nazand Begikhani was born in Iraqi Kurdistan. She is the founding member and co-ordinator of the organisation ‘Kurdish Women's Action against Honour Killing' (KWAHK) and the International Kurdish Women’s Studies Network and has published many articles on gender issues. Her first poetry collection Yesterday of Tomorrow was published in Paris in 1995 and her second poetry collection will be published in the near future.

Mahmood Jamal was born in Lucknow in India in 1948 and his family, like many Muslim families, moved to Pakistan. He is a progressive poet, filmmaker and translator who writes in Urdu and English. His latest collection of poetry Sugar-Coated Pill was launched in June 2006 and his other books include Modern Urdu Poetry and Silence Inside a Gun's Mouth. He has been published in a wide range of anthologies, had his work broadcast on radio and TV, and been translated into several languages.

Aydin Mehmet Ali was born in Cyprus. Her writing has been characterised as 'breaking taboos' with her short stories having appeared in numerous publications. Publications: Turkish Speaking Communities & Education - no delight (2001), editor of Turkish Cypriot Identity in Literature (1990) and contributor to Weeping Island, a recent collection of Cypriot writers living in Cyprus and the Diaspora.She set up FATAL (For the Advancement of Turkish-speakers Arts and Literature) which includes Cypriot, Turkish and Kurdish artists and writers.

Chenjerai Hove of Zimbabwe is a poet, an essayist and an award-winning novelist. He is currently the International Cities of Refuge Network guest writer in Stavanger, Norway.

Mansour Koushan of Iran is a former guest writer of Stavanger. A prolific poet, playwright, director and novelist, he worked to establish the independent Writers' Association in Iran.

Mansur Rajih of Yemen is a poet whose work had to be smuggled out of his prison cell for 15 years. A former guest writer of Stavanger, he is currently working on his fifth poetry collection.

Moderator for the evening: Ren Powell, an American poet, translator and essayist; Project Coordinator for ICORN and Stavanger's City of Refuge Center.

• Monday, 3rd July 2006

An evening of poetry, storytelling and music
MC: Soheila Ghodstinat

'WORLD WITHOUT WORDS'

with
Valbona Bashota: A Kosovan Albanian who arrived in the UK in 1994, Valbona has won numerous prizes for her poetry. She works as a freelance journalist.
Sofia Buchuck: Born in Cusco, Peru, her collection of poetry is entitled Al otro lado de America (At the Other Side of America). Her poetry has been published in a range of anthologies. Since 1991 she has performed Latin American music at festivals and concerts in the UK and Latin America and in 2000 ‘Girl of the Rain Forest’ was released.
Nela Milic: Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Nela is a visual artist and a short story writer.
Sifundo Msebele: established performance poet
Mohammed Bashar Al-Hueidi: Born in Damascus, Syria, Mohammed emigrated to the UK in 1991.
PLUS
Tenzin Tsundue: Tibetan poet in exile in India where he has been well published. He is on his first visit to Europe.
PLUS
'Get Creative'
'Exiled Ink!' magazine for sale

• Monday, 5th June 2006

Awakening Love:

contemplative poetry and music inspired by mystical poets
KARIM HAIDARI, ROOHI MAJID, MELANIE REINHART, EVLYNN SHARP

An event that offers the mystical poetry of Rumi and Hafez in Dari/Farsi and in English with musical accompaniment. Original translations of the poems have been made by Karim Haidari and Evlynn Sharp. The poems will be read by Karim, Roohi and Evlynn, with original music by Melanie Reinhart. Melanie’s ragas on harmonium and tampura combine with the poetic voices and tune to the spiritual perfection of the poetry. This shared adoration of the poetry of Rumi and Hafez has led to Awakening Love - a new CD recording of the poems in Dari/Farsi and in English, and with music.

Karim Haidari was born in Afghanistan and adores Rumi and Hafez. He is a poet and playwright, and writes articles for various journals.

Roohi Hasan Majid was born in Pakistan and is a student of Sufism. She is a poet who writes in Urdu and English.

Melanie Reinhart was born in Zimbabwe and deeply loves contemplative music. She is an astrologer and author of several books. Visit: www.melaniereinhart.com

Evlynn Sharp was born in Scotland and loves mystical poetry. She is a poet and dramatist, and runs creative writing projects in the community.

• Monday, 8th May 2006

Waste of Space

Abdel-Mitaal Gershab
Amanda Sanders with 2 other players: Gadje Juerga (non-gypsies Jamming)
Shadab Vajdi

Exiled African Writers

with
Brian Chikwava, Caine Prize Winner, 2004 (Zimbabwe)
Francis Akpata, (Nigeria)
Suleiman Addonia (Eritrea/Ethiopia)

MC: Isabelle Romaine

with
Miriam Frank (Latin America)
Lorraine Mariner (England)
Aamer Hussein (Pakistan)
Steve Griffiths (Wales)
and other exiled writers

• Monday, 6th February 2006

Exiled Writers Ink and Windows for Peace invite you to:

ACROSS THE MIDDLE EASTERN DIVIDE
WITH ARAB AND JEWISH WRITERS FROM IRAQ, SYRIA, TURKEY and LIBYA

Moris Farhi is the Turkish born Jewish author of the novel 'Young Turk' as well as of The Last of Days, Journey Through the Wilderness and Children of the Rainbow. For over twenty years, under the auspices of English PEN and International PEN, he has campaigned on behalf of writers persecuted or imprisoned by repressive regimes throughout the world, for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Fadhil As Sultani the poet, has published a collection entitled 'Burning in Water'. He is editor of the literature section of the Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Raphael Luzon - Jewish Libyan born former journalist forced to flee from Libya

Sawsun Sabuh - Syrian poet (further details to follow)

andFloor spots after the coffee break
please contact: jennifer@exiledwriters.fsnet.co.uk or register on the night.

Chairs: Jude Bloomfield of Windows for Peace and Jennifer Langer of Exiled Writers Ink
www.exiledwriters.co.uk and www.win-peace.org

From: The Guardian - Saturday February 11, 2006

The Middle East comes to London
Aida Edemariam

The Poetry Café in Covent Garden is a cosy place, a calm time-warp of clear-faced students, murmuring couples, tiny tables and red wine; poetry-related newspaper clippings adorn the wall. There are regular readings in the room downstairs, which was cramped this week in anticipation of four writers from across the Middle East. The Danish embassy in Iran was being firebombed as they spoke, and reality couldn't help but intrude, despite pleas from a moderator for more imaginative fare after the first contributor, Libyan Jew Raphael Luzon, focused on politics. He was followed by Fadhil as Sultani, an Iraqi-born poet who has translated William Trevor and Toni Morrison into Arabic, is tackling English poets from 1952 to 2000, and read a tribute to the founder of Iraqi free verse followed by addresses to Van Gogh and RS Thomas: "Like you, I sometimes hear the fluttering of swans on an unknown sea ... sometimes, like you, I hear in the middle of the night mysterious music, and a voice summoning me." Impac-longlisted Moris Farhi, who left Turkey for England at 19, read a thinly fictionalised injunction to multi-ethnic tolerance and was followed by Ghias al Jundi, an exiled Syrian who had cheered when the Danish cartoons were published but was dashed down by the "biggest disaster" when the protests began. His poems were full of details - the floor of the university library where he used to hide to kiss his girlfriend, the "smell of words on clothes" - and finally, "I met a girl from the Czech Republic on the number 36 bus, and I don't know why, but she asked me about love," was the introduction to one poem, which ended: "In this vague future, I forget myself."

• Monday, 9th January 2006

'The Outsiders'

Everyone welcome to perform their work.
Chaired by Mir Mahfuz Ali

2005

Monday, 5th December 2005

An evening with Latin American exiled writers and musicians

Alfredo Cordal (Chile)
Juan Calles (Peru)
Mentor Chico (Ecuador)
Omar Garcia Obrogon (Cuban)
Diego Laverde Rojas on his Colombian harp
Jose Navarro on his Andean flute
MC: Miriam Frank

When A Woman Lost Her Man
The mothers, wives, daughters, sisters.....who lost 8000 men

The distinguished Canadian poet John Weier has published ten books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction and has represented Canadian literature internationally. He will read with the renowned Iranian poet Esmail Khoi whose witty and political poetry has caused him to spend most of his life in exile. In Iran in the early 1980s, he was forced to spend nearly two years in hiding before fleeing in 1983. His anthologies of work translated into English are ‘Edges of Poetry: Selected Poems of Esmail Khoi (1995), the bilingual anthology ‘Outlandia: Songs of Exile’ (1999) and Voice of Exile (2002). Plus read your own work after the coffee break.

Monday 5th September 2005

Sharing Thoughts about the New World Order
(any themes connected loosely or closely to the London bombings) - poetry, prose, images, multi-media etc

Written and performed by Martina Messing
Directed by Rebecca Tortora
Designed by Sarah Bird

We offer a storytelling workshop after the performance for more information please email:bordercases@yahoo.co.uk

Monday 4 July 2005

Out Of Place

Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan and grew up in England. She has had five books of poetry published: The Country at My Shoulder (OUP 1993), A Bowl of Warm Air (OUP 1996), Carrying My Wife (Bloodaxe 2000), Souls (Bloodaxe 2002) and How the Stone Found Its Voice (Bloodaxe 2005). She received a Cholmondeley Award in 2002. In 2003 a collection of her poems in translation was published in Holland.

Jane Duran was born in Cuba and brought up in the US and Chile. Her first collection Breathe Now, Breathe (Enitharmon Press, 1995) won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Her second collection, Silences from the Spanish Civil War, was published by Enitharmon Press in 2002. A third collection, Coastal, is due in the autumn.

with Nora Armani,
award-winning actress, playwright, author, producer, born in Egypt of Armenian parents, asks: "Is 'return' really possible?"
She reads from her new writing on the theme of 'Exile and Return'. In her new work, Nora explores the issues of belonging and return to one's place of birth after experiencing other cultures and living through exile.

Darija Stojnic
will read her short stories on Return. She is from Sarajevo, Bosnia where she lived until the outbreak of war in 1992. Some of her short stories have been published in SaLon, Big Issue, Crossing the Border and The Silver Throat of the Moon. She also writes for Bosniak Post, Norway.

Tribute: Senait Gebremichaels reading Reesom Haile's poetry in Tigrinea and English,
Eritrean music,
Black British Sierra Leonean, author Valerie Mason-John on her debut novel, 'Borrowed Body'
Khadija George with guest (tbc) from her anthology: 'Write Black, Write British: From Post Colonial to Black British Literature'

Settela by Aad Wagenaar
(translation publ. Five Leaves, March 2005)
Janna Eliot, translator, on the search for Settela with
Florina, Romany poet and Romany music

Bashir Sakhawarz, Afghanistan
He has written articles, poetry and short stories and has also published three books. He recently appeared in 'And the City Spoke' performed at the Hampstead Theatre, London as part of EWI's European project.

Wafaa Abdul Razzaq, Iraq
Wafaa came to the UK in 2000. She has had 3 collections of poetry published plus a CD book with music, two short stories and four novels. She has produced a further two unpublished collections of poetry, all in Arabic. Her work is gradually being translated into English.

with Ziba Karbassi (Iran, London, Paris), Jennifer Langer (London), Ali Abdolrezaei (Iran, Paris), Parham Shahrjerdi (Iran, Paris)

Club Des Poets Paris

Strangers on Other Shores

a night of poetry presented by Richard McKane (poet and translator) with Cristina Viti (Italian poet ), Stephen Watts (poet and translator- English) and Alev Adil (Turkish Cypriot poet).

Scott Russell, academic and performance poet, will read his Christmas poems. Funny and full of rhymes!
Andrea Muir, writer, editor and creative writing tutor, will read her short stories.
Graham Muir, self-taught guitarist, well acclaimed Highland musician. Atmospheric and technically challenging.

CHOMAN HARDI EWI's first Chair, will be reading from her first published poetry collection 'Life for Us' published by Bloodaxe Books, September 2004
JASON PETTUS slam poet from Chicago on a UK tour (http://www.jasonpettus.com/uk)
NAZANEEN RAKHSHANDEH was born in Tehran and has been living in England since 1976. Her collection of poetry Runway of Words was published in London in 2003.
PIREENI SUNDARALINGAM poet of Sri Lankan origin from San Francisco A PEN USA Rosenthal Fellow, Pireeni was recently named as " one of America's emerging writers" by the literary journal Ploughshares. Born in Sri Lanka, her poetry addresses the issues of civil war and exile, examining such universal themes as the loss of land and language. Her work will be featured in the documentary film "Veil of Silence" and the International Museum of Women in 2005. Pireeni's new CD, entitled "Bridge Across the Blue", weaves together poetry and music to tell the diaspora stories of different immigrant groups in America. (http://www.wordandviolin.com)

Journey of the Emotions: Self-censorship or self-exposure?
with published poets
Ziba Karbassi with translator, Stephen Watts, Mimi Khalvati, Peter Phillips

Monday 2nd August 2004

'Speaking in Other Tongues'
Members of Exiled Writers Ink! present a collage of poetry and music with audience participation featuring Agim Morina, Sophia Buchuck and Mir Mahfuz Ali

'Aires de Buenos Aires'
an evening of Argentinean poetry and song
with
Lloica Czakis (www.lloicaczackis.com)- celebrated singer with guitar Miriam Frank - writer and translator of Juan Gelman and Hector Tizon

'Aires de Buenos Aires,
una noche de poesia y canciones argentinas
lunes 5 de julio
Lloica Czackis voz y guitarra
Miriam Frank escritos y traducciones de Juan Gelman

Moris Farhi
author of the recently published
‘Young Turk’
in conversation with Richard McKane.

Moris Farhi was born in Turkey in 1935. He has written several novels, including Children of the Rainbow (The Independent, The New Statesman and The Daily Telegraph 'Book of the Year') and Journey through the Wilderness ('bears comparison with the best of Graham Greene'). He is a vice-president of English PEN and a patron of Exiled Writers Ink and in 2001 was appointed MBE for 'services to literature'. He lives in London.
"Beautifully rendered, poetic and mystical, this is an intoxicating collect ion of 13 tales run together like kebabs on the skewer of Turkish history." Daily Mail

Monday 10th May 2004

'Out of Iraq'
with writer: Haifa Zangana,
poets: Fadhil Assultani and Awad Nasir and
singer and oud player: Sahira Hussein

Monday 5th April 2004

extract from Florida, The election play
by Dale Reynolds, ex-patriot American writer

with Dale Reynolds and actors
After the coffee break:
opportunity for exiled writers to perform and discuss their work

Ghias Al Jundi: poet from a fjord
Khadija Ait Ammi: writer from Morocco
Adriana Diaz Enciso: writer from Mexico
Stanisous Meguen: singer and guitarist from Cameroons

Organised by Ghias Al Jundi,
Followed by a discussion led by Marta Niccolai
‘Culture/s and Europe’

Monday 2nd February 2004

ACROSS FRONTIERS

ANNA CARTERET and STELLA MARIS
read
POEMS, PROSE AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
by REFUGEES, ASYLUM SEEKERS and WRITERS IN EXILE

Including work by contributors to CROSSING THE BORDER AND BEND IN THE ROAD, edited by Jennifer Langer - pub. Five Leaves.
The book ‘Crossing the Border’ will be on sale on the night

ANNA CARTERET joined the National Theatre at the Old Vic in 1967 - and appeared in many plays - including Peter Hall's production of JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN - which opened the new National Theatre. She enjoyed many roles there and in the West End - her favourite being MRS CHEVELEY in Peter Hall's AN IDEAL HUSBAND - which transferred to Broadway for six months. For the RSC she played Mme de MERTEUILLE IN LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (national tour and Johannesburg) and QUEEN MARGARET in RICHARD III. Her last West End appearance was in Franco Zefirelli's production of Pirandello's ABSOLUTELY (PERHAPS). She has also directed 5 plays on the fringe. Her television parts included Inspector Kate Longton in JULIET BRAVO. She also helped to form RAVING BEAUTIES - whose first two shows IN THE PINK and MAKE IT WORK were shown on Channel Four TV. At the ICA she co-founded CENSORED THEATRE who presented plays banned in their own countries for political reasons, the first of which was Ariel Dorfman's DEATH OF A MAIDEN.

STELLA MARIS worked in repertory in her native Argentina before coming to England in 1979 - when the military junta banned the play in which she was appearing, as subversive.. she stayed with Anna for four years - and has taken part in several plays dealing with political oppression including Francisco Morales' CHILE LEST WE FORGET, THE PORTAGE OF AH TO ST CHRISTOBAL (dir. John Dexter), MY SONG IS FREE (Monstrous Regiment), FALKLAND SOUND - VOCES DE MALVINAS (dir. Max Stafford Clark, Royal Court and Traverse) and recently THEATRE FOR THE IDENTITY (Arcola), EVERY DAY PALESTINE and SHOCK AND AWE (both with Meeting Ground). In the 80s, Stella spent 3 years doing Popular Theatre with the Landless Movement - Sem Terra - in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Recent film work includes IMAGINING ARGENTINA (dir. Christopher Hampton)..Other films - TRULY MADLY DEEPLY, BAMBINO MIO, HILARY AND JACKY, NELLY'S VERSION - and her recent TV work includes FAMILY (LWT), AWF WIEDERSHEN PET - and DIE KINDER, BETWEEN THE LINES and UNDER THE SUN (dir. Michael Winterbottom)

Performance of extract from: Peeling the Skin of Time

Peeling the Skin of Time is a work of experimental theatre which was devised especially for Refugee Week 2002 by writers from Cyprus, Iran, Kurdistan and Bangladesh - Choman Hardi, Abol Froushan, Julia Kaminska, Gulgun Mustafa, Mir Mahfuz Ali, Fatma Durmush, Afshin Babazadeh. It is an exploration of internal and external landscapes and depicts the excitement and commotion of a society made up of people from elsewhere and was performed at the Arcola and New End Theatres, London in June 2002.