Al-Saddiq al-Raddi

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi grew up in Omdurman Khartoum in Sudan where he lived until forced into exile in 2012. He is one of the leading African poets writing in Arabic today. His latest collection is A Friend’s Kitchen (2023, Poetry Translation Centre) translated by Bryar Balalan and Shook. It is a profound collection that deals both with the spiritual incomprehensibility and physical reality of exile. His first poetry collection was Songs of Solitude (1996), and he has also published The Sultan’s Labyrinth (1996) and The Far Reaches of the Screen (1999 & 2000).

From the Book of Erasure

The umbilical cord is buried near a mud room
Five decades ago in Aburov
My biography buried in the bed!

It’s no secret: life messes you up
It’s no secret: you’re messing with life!

I will narrate nothing
I am busy sweeping away all traces of my existence
Nothing will be left!