2010
• Monday 6th September at 7.30 pm
VOICES FROM PALESTINA
Presented by Fathieh Saudi, chair EWI with the participation of
Adania Shibli: a Palestinian novelist, born in 1974, has twice been awarded the Young Writer’s Award -Palestine by the AM Qattan Foundation for her novels Masaas ('Touch', ) and Kulluna Ba’eed Bethat al Miqdar ‘an al Hub ('We Are All Equally Far From Love,'). She has published short stories and essays in literary magazines such as Ramallah’s Al-Karmel, the Beirut literary periodicals Al-Adaab and Zawaya, and Alexandria’s Amkenah, among others. Shibli has a PhD in media and cultural studies at the University of East London.
Ehab Bessaiso: a Palestinian poet and writer. He was born in Gaza and currently lives in the UK. His first poetry book The Albatross of the blurred sky line was published in 2004.His second poetry book Happenings in the hourglass was published in Lebanon.Poems from his books have been translated into English and appeared in British publications such as Planet Magazine (Wales) and Exiled Ink (London). He has also contributed to several literary and cultural events in the UK and the Arab World.
Interview with Mahmoud Darwish: a short film, interview on the West Bank in 2002.
Guest poet Yuyutso Sharma: a poet from Nepal. He has published eight poetry collections including, Space cake Amsterdam, Other poems from Europe and America, Annapurna and Stains of Blood. He has translated and edited several anthologies of contemporary Nepali poetry in English and launched a literary movement, Kathya Kayakalpa (Content Metamorphosis)
• Monday 2nd August at 7.30 pm
MAGICAL JOURNEY AND SETTLEMENT
Live Music performance: Sofia Buchuck,Isabel Ross Lopez, Diego La verde on the Harp- Colombian harp player.
Eric Ngalle Charles (Cameroon) left in 1997 aiming to join relatives in Belgium, but found himself stranded in Russia. After three years he succeeded in obtaining papers to travel to the UK where he was involved in the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group. He is currently working on two books: a collection of poetry, Bag of Letters, and an autobiographical novel, Way to Britain.
• Monday 5th July at 7.30 pm
The Other Poetry
with
• Monday 7th June at 7.30 pm
Writing Your Life: Women’s Autobiographical Voices
Exiled Writers Ink with Asylum Aid Women's Project
Five voices –some poetry, others prose- explore the past, family background or heritage, home, or experience of displacement, from their decades of living in unfamiliar territories, sharing with you aspects of their bittersweet exile.
Maria Eugenia Bravo Calderara, published poet and short story writer, was born in Chile . In 1992 her first poetry book ‘Prayer in the National Stadium’ received a prize from the Greater London Council. In spite of the extreme violence she suffered in the past due to political persecution, she celebrates life, the redemption found through love and human solidarity. Her collection of poetry Poems from Exile will be available.
Annie Crozier who was born in South Africa and lived her teenage years in Lesotho. She came to England in 1964 because she knew that her life was very restricted and did not know how to develop as a person. She recently started writing poetry.
Valbona Ismaili Luta, an Albanian writer from Kosova, writes for Teuta, a prestigious Albanian monthly. Her works have also appeared in several anthologies.
Ivy Vernon attended school and university in Baghdad. In 1970 she and her family fled from the terror of Saddam. Her bookBaghdad Memories recalls the life of a Jewish girl and her community against a changing political background.
A special visitor from Asylum Aid will tell us about the new Women's Asylum Charter and how we can be involved. (www.asylumaid.org.uk)
• Monday 10th May at 7.30 pm
West of the River Jordan with Arab and Israeli writers performing their work + Music with
Lina Abu Baker
She was born in Kuwait in 1973. She has published two poetry books, 2000,
and 2005. She is a columnist for Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper and has participated in numerous cultural, political and human rights events and anti-war campaigns in Jordan, Algeria, Dubai, Paris, Morocco and London.
Rabai Al Madhoun
was born in Al-Majdal Askalan, Palestine in 1945. He has been working in the media since 1975. He is author of The Idiot of Khan Younis; short stories (Arabic language), Beirut 1977, The Palestinian Uprising: Method and Structure , 2 editions; Sharq Press, Nicosia-Cyprus 1988 and Dar Al-Aswar-Akko, Israel 1989, TheTaste of Separation (autobiography), Arab Institute for Research and Publishing - Beirut and Amman 2001. The Lady from Tel Aviv, (novel) , 3 editions, Arab Institute for Research and Publishing -Beirut and Amman 2009, 2010. The novel was shortlisted IPAF 2010.
Haim Bresheeth
Professor Bresheeth is a filmmaker, photographer and film studies scholar at the University of East London. He is also a poet. He was Dean of the School of Media, Film and Cultural Studies at Sapir College, Israel. His books include Introduction to the Holocaust (1997) and Holocaust for Beginners (1993). His edited volumes include The Gulf War and the New World Order, (with Nira Yuval-Davis) (Zed Books, 1992), Cinema and Memory: Dangerous Liaisons, co-edited with Zand, S and Zimmerman, M Jerusalem, Zalman Shazar Centre (Hebrew) 2004, and Third Text (September, 2006) on Palestinian and Israeli Art, Photography, Architecture and Cinema (co-edited with Haifa Hammami). His films include 'State of Danger' (1989, BBC2), a documentary on the first Palestinian Intifada.
Feat. Muneera Rashida (Vox, Lyrix)
Hosted by Shereen Pandit
• Monday 12th April at 7.30
painting ‘The Four Horsemen’ by Tyrone Bravo
Donald Hinds
Historian and literary activist. Has been part of CAM (Caribbean Artists Movement) and CACOEU (Caribbean Communities in Europe) and many more. Author of ‘Journey to an Illusion’(1966, 2001). He has been part of important developments in postcolonial Caribbean-British literature. Early post-war worker from Jamaica.
Nicole Moore
Freelance writer/editor and published poet, with experience of producing work for magazines and poetry anthologies. She is editor of Brown Eyes (2005) and Sexual Attraction Revealed (2007), both Shangwe produced anthologies of creative expressions by black and mixed-race women. Member of the Society of Authors. Born in London of Guyanese and English parentage.
www.shangwe.com
Akuba
Accomplished storyteller and poet. Works and performs in the community and at the British Museum and founder of WAPPY – Writing, Acting, Performing and Publishing for Youngsters – whose latest performance was at the national Huntley Conference. Poetry published in ‘Unheard Voices’(2006) and more. Born in London of Ghanaian parentage.
Zita Holbourne + guest
Performance poet, trade union activist, artist and former vocalist/songwriter. Member of Brothaman Poetry Collective, co-host and resident poet of Nu Whirled Voyces. She is elected to the Public and Commercial Services Union National Executive, ACTSA NEC and the TUC Race Relations Committee and specialises in equality. She recently organised a Poetry 4 Haiti event at the Poetry Café. Born in London of Trinidadian and British parentage.
Yolande Deane
Poet who has recently begun to explore the Japanese Haiku form, she is an ESOL/EFL teacher who likes to use images to inspire writing in her classes.
Also featured in Nicole Moore’s forthcoming anthology. Born in London of Vincentian and Jamaican parentage.
Malcolm Cumberbatch
Long-time activist, trade unionist, university sociology lecturer and poet in London and Sheffield. Writes for ‘Multicultural teaching’ and others; former editor of the African-Centered Review. Race relations speaker, community development and regeneration organiser and more. Born in Barbados.
Hosted by Ursula Troche
• Monday 1st March at 7.30
An Evening with Esmail Khoi: Voice of Iranian Resistance
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
VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES + MUSIC
Yoruba Man Aghast 2007 (Pastel on paper): Aritst: Francis Akpata
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
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.
UNVEILED VOICES
an evening of Arabic women authors and musicians
• Monday 5th October 2009 at 7.30pm
COMMITTED
EXILED FROM TURKISH SPACES
• Monday 3 August 2009 at 7:30pm
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
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.
• 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
with
The Young Ones
born in many countries
Photos: J. Hazwan
An amazing night of poetry, rap, drama and music
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)
Enchanting Words and Sounds
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.
• 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
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.
Barbara Marsh
Melanie McKay
2008
• Monday 3rd November 2008
• Monday 6th October 2008
IF SALT HAS MEMORY
Jewish Exiled Writers:
Gregorio Kohon, poet and novelist from
Argentina, author of Red Parrot, Wooden Leg and a
new collection of poetry.
Moris Farhi, award-winning poet and novelist born in Turkey, author of Young Turk translated into many languages, and other works.
with music and song by Sharon Malyan, Zambian born Jewish singer performing with her band Butt of Lewis - An alternative folk-rock band, performing a fusion of Yiddish, reggae, Latin, tango, and other genres
• Monday 1st September 2008
• Monday 4th August 2008
with Iranian and European Writers
Ziba Karbassi, poet - from Iran
Ghazi Rabihavi, playwright - from Iran. Mara Lockowandt is the director of Ghazi's playlet about the issue of women in Iran.
Rouhi Shafii, prose writer - from Iran
Albert Pellicer, poet - from Spain,accompanied by Mark Matsena - saxophonist.
Wlodek Fenrych, poet - from Poland
Cristina Vitii, poet - from Italy
Stephen Watts, poet - from England
• Monday 7th July 2008
AN EVENING WITH AYDIN MEHMET ALI and VALDEMAR KALININ
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
• Monday 2nd June 2008
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.
Hosted by Mir Mahfuz Ali.
• Monday 7th April 2008
An evening of Latin American Women: poetry and music
"Far from home"
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
Hosted by Fathieh Saudi, EWI Chair
• Monday 3rd March 2008
"it was, the pain of words"
with
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.
Manoj Nair Poet, further details to follow
Music by Amanda Sanders
and OPEN MIC
• Monday 4th February 2008
Born in Iran
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'.
• Monday 7th January 2008
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.
2007
• Monday 3rd December 2007
DANGEROUS WORDS
with Bart Wolffe who could no longer write freely in Mugabe's Zimbabwe
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.
and Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu who fled from Nigeria because of his novel
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.
• Monday 5th November 2007
INTEGRATION OR NOT?
Readings and Discussion
Chaired by Miriam Frank
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
• Monday 3rd September 2007
Women's Voices and Conflict: The Voices of Arab and Jewish poets
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.
• Monday, 6th August 2007
STATE OF EMERGENCY
with
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
WITH MUSIC
• Monday, 2nd July 2007
Bells of Speech
with
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
• Monday, 14th May 2007
In the Footsteps of the Word Gatherer
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.
• Monday, 2nd April 2007
RECYCLING PAIN
• Monday, 5th March 2007
IMAGINED IRAQ
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
• Monday, 5th February 2007
'LOOK, WE HAVE COMING TO THE POETRY CAFF!'
AN EVENING WITH DALJIT NAGRA
TO LAUNCH HIS LATEST POETRY BOOK:
LOOK, WE HAVE COMING TO DOVER! published by Faber and Faber, 2007
with music and song (tba)
Chaired by Janna Eliot
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.
2006
• Monday 4th December 2006
The Political is not the Personal
with
Serbian poet: Sonja Besford
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)
Iraqi poet: Fawzi Kerim
Poetry read by and translated into English by the poet: Anthony Howell
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.
Nepalese musicians: Bishwo Shahi and Prabin Tamang
STEPHEN WATTS launching
'Modern Kurdish Poetry'
ed. Kamal Mirawdeli and Stephen Watts
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.
Chaired by: David Clark of Exiled Ink magazine
• Monday, 2nd October 2006
Memories, Myths and Migrations:
Poetry and Music from Sri Lanka, Ireland and beyond
WORD & VIOLIN
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.
• Monday, 7th August 2006
Roaring from the Top of the World: Exiled Writers Speak from Norway
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.
Contact Karim and Evlynn via: admin@blueglassrabbit.com
• Monday, 8th May 2006
Waste of Space
Abdel-Mitaal Gershab
Amanda Sanders with 2 other players: Gadje Juerga (non-gypsies Jamming)
Shadab Vajdi
Organised and chaired by Ghias Aljundui
• Monday, 3rd April 2006
Exiled African Writers
with
Brian Chikwava, Caine Prize Winner, 2004 (Zimbabwe)
Francis Akpata, (Nigeria)
Suleiman Addonia (Eritrea/Ethiopia)
MC: Isabelle Romaine
• Monday, 6th March 2006
'Returning Home'
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
Monday, 7th November 2005
When A Woman Lost Her Man
The mothers, wives, daughters, sisters.....who lost 8000 men
Dedicated to the women of Srebrenica
Presenters: Darija Stojnic, Amna Dumpor, Vesna Domani Hardi
Monday, 3rd October 2005
East and West
The Meeting of Poets
John Weier meets Esmail Khoi
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
Monday 1 August 2005
Grenzgänger / Border Cases
Stories of Immigration / Emigration / Migration
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.
Plus guest poet (tba) and Open Mic session.
Monday 6th June 2005
The Way Back
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.
Monday 9th May 2005
Narratives of Africa
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'
Monday 4th April 2005
Sinti (gypsy) Hauntings
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
Monday 7th March 2005
"Citizenship of Sand: Window of Illusion"
Ghias Aljundi, Anywhere
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.
Guitarist and singer Meguen Touko, Cameroon
Monday 7th February 2005
Writers from tsunami affected countries
Parm Kaur, Mir Mahfuz Ali, Shantachar
Saturday 5th February
Exiled Writers Ink in Paris
with Ziba Karbassi (Iran, London, Paris), Jennifer
Langer (London), Ali Abdolrezaei (Iran, Paris), Parham
Shahrjerdi (Iran, Paris)
Monday 10th January 2005 at 7.30 pm
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).
2004
Monday 6th December 2004
Scottish night followed by a party
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.
Please bring snack food and drink.
Monday 1st November 2004
To the Memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa:
Nigerian author and environmentalist
with Olayinka Sunmonu (novelist) and Francis
Akpata (poet)
and others tba
Monday 4th October 2004
Life for Us
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)
Monday 6th September 2004
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
Monday 5th July 2004
'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
Monday 7th June 2004
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
Monday 1st March 2004
Anne
Dreams of Sand
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)
Monday, 5th January 2004 at 7.30 p.m.
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.
