Saturday the 6th of November creative’s meet up

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Aminah B

On Saturday the 6th of November a dear friend of mine the talented and wonderful Yemisi Blake, a London-based writer and creative mentor at the Southbank centre organised an interactive networking event. A chance for young up and coming creative’s to mingle with one another (with free food yay.) The idea was to give an informal 5-10 min presentation about themselves, what they do and works they have produced. Purely just to learn from one another and our individual involvement in poetry international 2010 “Imagining peace”. Thus being artistically enthused by those around us and that I truly was. We had a range of different people all into differing arts styles, designs, it was fantastic to see that dexterity. From the brilliantly talented Yemisi and his amazing poetry skills that I have seen flourish through out our years together since college. Yes Yem we are that old.

To the enchanting moves and grooves of another former college cohort Shakeel a truly gifted and awe inspiring young dancer, who is part of the dance troupe Goodfoot. Who have currently been going on tour all around the U.K. Motivating  & teaching the youth, portraying to the public the importance of dance in today’s day and age.

Following on we were tantalized by the wicked illustration of Myrto & Sonia whom I had heard of but had never met. It was great to finally associate art pieces to them, and acknowledge who they were because their work fully deserves a lot of praise.

And last but by no means least Mohamed Zain an up and coming spoken word artist who goes by the name on the streets (he tells me) as urban poet. Mohamed Zain has an ability granted by God to capture an audience not just by his lyrical spit at only 18 years but by his amazing vocal singing ability. That very sadly he shy’s away from but needs much kudos and respect for. Speaking of this brings back good memories from when he use to ring a local community radio show I presented with my fellow co-host Zara Dada called Salaam (peace) Saturdays on Ramadan radio Hacc 96.2fm, where Mohamed Zain would amaze us each week with his beautiful vocal ability.

To conclude it all though honestly speaking I had a fantastic time mingling with other creative’s. I felt part of something new and exciting, is this how the pre-Raphaelites felt before the magic? Who knows? Even though my presentation was majorly underprepared due to no ones fault but my own, it was such a lovely relaxed environment, and I hope it will continue to grow and flourish. Well done to Yemisi Blake for putting all this together and having the energy to keep bugging us to actually do this. Here’s to many more inspiring afternoons.

(From top to bottom Yemisi, Shakeel, Myrto, Sonia and Mohamed Zain.)

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2nd November Poetry International 2010 Remi Kanazi

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Aminah B

On tuesday the 2nd of November 2010. I ventured out into the London cold hoping to be entertained and educated by the Poetry international 2010 “Imagining peace.” Truthfully I was not thrilled in the morning after a terrible 3-hour commute due to the transport for London tube strikes. But for the sake of the wonderful works of Remi Kanazi it was worth the trek, even if that meant a prolonged time on the underground journey home. Remi was everything I hoped for in a contemporary youthful Palestinian writer and poet. He was captivating from the get go, enthusiastic and didn’t shy away from the morbid realities of an unfair blockade and unjustifiable war on the Palestinian people.

I walked into the event and sat for over an hour in the blue room of the Royal Festival Hall captivated by Remi’s words and even managed to get myself a signed “Poets For Palestine” book at the end because I was so impressed. Remi talked about his Palestinian origin being raised in the U.S, his words reminiscing of the past, being brought up in suburban America and quite clearly standing out from a lot of the children around him.  You could understand his frustration and truly feel the context of his words from poems such as “Palestinian identity” and “coexistence” his frustration but humorous way of challenging people’s perceptions around him on the unfair blockade.

We listened as he talked about his families historical ties in Palestine and how his grandparents had to migrate due to the war. You didn’t have to be Palestinian to feel the sadness and seriousness of certain poems. The heart felt melancholy for the Palestinian children and families who live in the west bank. You just have to be human, with a conscious to know that words that Remi states and spits so eloquently are real, they happen, they are still happening even as I write this, yes maybe not on our doorstep, but on another human beings door step hundreds of miles away. I hope that if ever there were a blockade in London, people would listen, understand, attempt to help and face the realities of an unjust war. Not just turning an eye because it “doesn’t affect me, I don’t know them, it’s their governments fault.” So as I sit writing these words on my battered Moleskine, I remember a week ago the powerful lingering words of activist and poet Remi Kanazi and hope more young minds are creatively inspired to reach out to people in the same way. Capturing the intellect of those who care about this world about peace and equality. To make a difference, make a change like some of the greats have done in the past and not just sit back and let this world crumble on dictatorship and money laundering. As our lifestyle is so materialistically aimed at the youth today, the focus on our own personal economic gain and comfort, forgetting those around us who are in need. We live in world were co-existence is crucial and to focus on the self is unrealistic. So next time you change the channel because the news is too depressing or you turn away and don’t listen to the words of some like Remi Kanazi, think again, that illegitimate war could be London. Your land, your problem.

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Since I came to life, all I’ve known is WAR…

Posted on November 13, 2010 by sawsan abu qare'

“Imagining Peace” was the theme of the Southbank Centre’s Poetry International this year. Many of the poems that were performed during the festival reflected on peace, war, Palestine, Iraq and other places that have known conflict. Kristiina Ehin, who performed on the third day of the festival, amazed me with her poetry which is rich with fictional images. She talked about sea maidens and sea creatures. I was taken away by her calm voice and her unusual images.

Besides her fictional images, Kristiina’s words about peace planted themselves in my mind. Instead of writing 500 words here to express my feelings and ideas about peace, I want to use Kristiina’s language to share my feelings: “When I find peace, there’s warmth in my hands for a moment”. It is a feeling I long to know.

Yang Lian, who performed on the last day of the festival, also talked in his poetry about war and peace. He read his poetry in his mother tongue, Chinese. It was amazing how you can feel the poetry even if when it is said in a language you don’t understand. During the discussion after the reading, he spoke about peace and how war and peace are, somehow, connected. This quotation from him holds a little hope to reach peace or maybe just to understand it someday: “We need to live in war in order to understand peace.” The meanings of his words affected my understanding of war and peace.
Recently, someone asked me, “Do you feel you live in peace in Palestine?” I answered: “I don’t know how it feels to be living in peace. Since I came to life, all I’ve known is war.” But now, I can understand the situation in Palestine a bit more. I will know peace when it comes because I have known war. War has defined for me what peace should be, and I long for the day when I both understand the idea of and know the reality of peace.

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Present Forever

Posted on November 13, 2010 by amanishaheen

On Saturday, the 6th of November, the Southbank Centre’s Poetry International celebrated the presence of a well-known Palestinian poet, Mourid Barghouti, who has published twelve collections of poetry. This unique event was chaired by novelist Ahdaf Soueif, director of the Palestine Festival of Literature. Moreover, the uniqueness of this event was the attendance of Mourid’s son, Tamim, who is also a poet and a political scientist. This was one of the most interesting events during Poetry International as it shed light on their personal story of exile from Egypt as a result of their political movements. The story of their imprisonment was also remarkable; Tamim was taken to prison in Egypt in 2003 after he demonstrated against the invasion of Iraq. His father came to visit him only to discover that his son was detained in the same cell in which he had once been detained.

The two poets also highlighted the importance of their return to Palestine. After 30 years of exile, Mourid came back to Ramallah, a city in Palestine, motivating him to write his famous autobiographical work “I Saw Ramallah.” His son, on the other hand, wrote a poem called “In Jerusalem” which expressed how the holy land of Jerusalem with its special religious institutions and fabulous architecture evoked his feelings as a Palestinian. In the poem, he reflected his feeling of severe alienation, moving Ahdaf and the audience to shed tears. The poem concludes, “whoever is present in Jerusalem, Jerusalem recognizes no one except for him.”

As a Palestinian living in Jerusalem, I experience the same feelings of alienation Tamim articulated. This poem, written in Arabic, echoes the deep feeling of Palestinians struggling under Israeli occupation as their basic human rights are violated. Visiting Jerusalem is legally prohibited to inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza. The Israeli occupation is powerful; however, it can’t break our pens, prevent our emotions, or silence our voices. Thus, our poetry is valuable and present. Present forever.

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The Flow of Poetry

Posted on November 11, 2010 by amanishaheen

As a Palestinian student, I believe poetry is the best method through which the everyday Palestinian struggle is accurately transmitted. Southbank Centre has offered me the opportunity to see poetry through various lenses. By the use of humor or a sorrowful voice, the poets I’ve seen read this week have been a rich source of inspiration. One event specifically stood out to me, Thursday’s Poetry Lunch. During the event, Indigo Williams highlighted the effects of racial discrimination through her poem “Call Me By My Name,” which also reflected her self determination and the assertion of her own identity. Sabrina Mahfouz used wit and rhythmic poetry, swallowing one word after the other, to express her anger against acts of honor killing. Other poets, such as Remi Kanazi and Tshaka Campbell set a sad tone during their performances. Kanazi delivered the story of a Palestinian girl in Gaza struggling under Israeli occupation, while Campbell expressed his heartbreak as young children were sucked into war in “War Child.”

Najwan Darwish, a Palestinian poet and critic, read a poem called “Fabrications,” which indicated that almost everything in our current lives as Palestinians lacks honesty and thus is a fabrication. While listening to Fiona Sampson, who won the TS Eliot prize for her 2007 collection, I could feel the “clear water drop by drop” on my cheeks, lips and eyelids. Renowned Syrian poet Nouri Al-Jarrah’s melodic words echoed throughout the auditorium as his poem “I am Not Odysseus” emphasized how he lacked Odysseus’ heroic deeds.

Lisa Suhair Majaj painted an image of the coffin maker’s workplace, where I inhaled the “smell of sawdust” and stepped on the “long line of broken teeth.” “The Coffin Maker Speaks” forced my imagination to roam around “the crushed and broken dead” bodies of people during wartime. David Kuhrt’s poetic insights of Christianity illustrated the importance of religion in his life by referring to Prophet Mohammed’s tribe and the origins of Prophet Abraham. I realized what it means to be a human, and the greatness of God’s power. After each poetry event, I was left reeling, as words, in Arabic and in English, slipped back into my mind. All of these elements became a river of inspiration. I just needed a pen and poetry started to flow.

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Listening to the Written Words

Posted on November 11, 2010 by sawsan abu qare'

Tickets to Poetry International Festival 2010

Being giving the chance to be a part of Poetry International at Southbank Centre has been a life changing experience. As an emerging writer, I’ve been able to attend readings, help prepare for events, meet with bloggers from the UK, and share my reflections about the events I’ve attended on Southbank Centre blog, which is a huge platform.

Poetry International is not only a way for poets to spread their work, it is also an opportunity for me to see poetry from different angles. In my life, poetry has always been presented through books and occasionally through TV, but hearing over 50 poets live this week has touched me in a way I hadn’t thought possible. I was able to hear poetry, feel it and talk to it. I had the opportunity to meet and converse with poets before their readings, which helped me to understand the meaning behind their work. Sharing personal information about their life and where they have came from inevitably affected the way in which I interpreted their poetry.

Most Palestinian poets live in the Diaspora and are prohibited from entering. It is difficult for Palestinian poets living inside of Palestine to exercise free speech because the occupation either silences the poet or deports him. Poetry International has provided an opportunity for Palestinian poets throughout the world to come together and share their work.

My journey from Palestine to London has been an unforgettable experience. I was invited into a new world, where imagination was the driving force. I was introduced to many of world’s leading Palestinian poets and some of the UK’s best voices. I will take back words, phrases, poems, and most significantly, a better understanding of world literature and poetry.

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Piecing Together Peace

Posted on November 10, 2010 by remikanazi

The theme of this year’s Poetry International is “Imagining Peace.” What often isn’t reflected on when discussing the concept is what type of “peace” are we imagining? It is a word that has been abused, twisted around for profit, and used as the basis for war.

I live in the United States. My country is at war with Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, fill in the blank _______. Corporations have taken over the public interest, human life is often all too expendable, and the masses prefer to watch reality TV than alter the status quo.

The purpose of my work is to effect change. In my view, we not only need to speak, imagine, and communicate, but act. As a Palestinian-American artist, I not only perform at festivals, benefits, hip hop shows, rallies, and speak on panels, but I use my voice as an advocate for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against the state of Israel. The great poet Adrienne Rich once wrote: the moment of change is the only poem. I explore the foundations of peace through my work and activism, but recognize that meaningful coexistence can only be achieved through freedom, justice, and equality for all people; peace is the eventual result.

As someone whose grandparents were dispossessed from their homeland in 1948, the institutional recognition of Palestinian poetry is in my view a way that Southbank Centre continues to imagine peace. Too often we are told how Palestinians must imagine their narrative, yet this week, some of the world’s best poets, many whom are of Palestinian descent, shared their visions with a world that hears them much too infrequently.

Poetry International afforded me the opportunity to work with students, perform at multiple events, and host a poetry lunch. It additionally presented me the honor of hearing a multitude of brilliant Palestinian voices all under one roof, from Suheir Hammad to Najwan Darwish to Lisa Suhair Majaj.

Art is moving. I was inspired by poets and became a poet. That itself is a powerful act.

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Shoot the messenger…

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Comfort Nwabia

So, this is like my penultimate blog on this blog…
No, that doesn’t work, does it?

Anyway, last Thursday I went to the Green Room to interview Imtiaz Dharker(see below), and I bumped into Jackie Kay who was looking for the Green Room too(obviously) and she asked me for directions! So I led her to the Green Room(sort of, it wasn’t really leading, more like walking side by side), and took a moment to calm myself and then introduced myself to Imtiaz who was lovely and incredibly charming.


Again, my apologies, for the poor quality. The lighting in that room is odd. At least the sound is good…

The event itself was an absolute joy of seismic proportions. And(and yes I can start a sentence with and, it’s a blog, not a school report! Plus, I’m a poet!) these poroportions ranged from utterly hilarious to tenderly emotive. After some clever and witty music performed in a clever and witty way from John Sampson who had us unashamedly in fits by the end of the event. He handed us over to Imtiaz Dharker, who was keen to have us all ‘over the moon’ (no not literally)! It is a curious phrase and I have often wondered what its origin was. Still, the wit with which she exploited its potential hilarity as a literal idea was exactly what being a poet is all about. Her powerful imagery in This Room, (which I was jumping up and down for because I had studied it for GSCE) and in all her poetry held us in her sway till her time was up.

Next up was Jackie Kay, who I had previously directed to the Green Room. It was only fate that she would have us in fits. Also, she picked up on what I said before, about all those ‘Ahhs’ and ‘Umms’ from the audience. So, now I know I’m not the only one who notices it for sure. I won’t lie though, I’ve been prone to it myself. Truthfully, though I believe it was only because she was touching those nerves in her poetry which we feel deep inside us all. It was quite quickly time for the interlude. Then more of John Sampson, who was very knowledgable, as well as funny, it turned out and I was unfortunately(or is that fortunately) laughing too much to rememeber to write down the interesting information he imparted to us.

Then we were blessed with the presence of the next two poets, Gillian Clarke and Carol Ann Duffy. Clarke’s powerful images were truly striking and had us mesmerised and continuing our chance trails of groaning. The skill she possessed to weave such images was taking us to spurting groans of approval. Then the moment I felt we’d been waiting for, Carol Ann Duffy, the poet laureate, took to the stage, ready to graces us with her infinite humour. Her poems, new and old ranged in their varying themes, from British Pubs, to bees, Duffy covered the lot. I can honestly say I am so happy I got to see this event, it was stunning to be there, and I hope my accountv of it has been somewhat stunning itself.

Indeed, this is the last poem in the series. Like the others, it is my creative response to the event. Enjoy:

Will I have your permission?

The glacial Harmony of this lost language
Graceful, like the ancient ripple of preciousness
Yes, we’ll omit existence
In the name of love; an ageless love
What! No manual alchemy of friendship?
The annual quick and easy
Suitable for all needs
Working pulse? Make wine
And mine a double.
It’s worth the trouble, all of it
The world’s wrongs, no matter your geographic
Demographic, whether dreams like ash and cinder,
We kindle the lost art exploiting that forgotten
Die hard habit of light.
The disorder overwhelmed that dainty tune of paranoia,
But we saw you dipping your hand in her soul
Panning for gold, then soon
Deciding to eat her whole
No, there’s nothing sinister about it
Because we’re all over the moon.

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Inner Feminine

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Myrto Williams

My visual response to Suheir Hammad and Tashweesh was inspired by the way Suheir Hammad spoke about feeling your inner feminine and her strong descriptions of how it is to be a woman. She spoke about her ex lover and how he would remember her eyes and her hands, this created a powerful visual for me.

www.myrto-williams.com

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Girl Fawkes: London Dreamtime

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Alex Rowse

Visitors to Southbank Centre’s regular Friday Tonic were welcomed last week by the smell of kerosene and a buzz of excitement as performers from Perfect Circle Poi spun arches of fire through the crisp November air in preparation for Girl Fawkes. Ladyfest Ten were taking over and it was a perfect taster for this coming weekend’s festival of music, spoken word, comedy and more.

That early evening, the Front Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall was filled with the absolutely beautiful sound of You Are Wolf, who layers her voice to create haunting landscapes of poetry and song. Catherine Brogan followed with performance poetry that was laugh out loud funny while bridging the personal and the political. The event was spectacularly ended by my new favourite folky-pop band Lulu and the Lampshades. The girls and boy have gorgeous voices, they use a type-writer as a legitimate instrument and their youtube video I’ve posted above is possibly the best thing I’ve seen in a long time (I account for quite a few of those 480,880+ views). They remind me of early Regina Spektor, The Magnetic Fields and (I’m sorry) a tiny bit of Tegan & Sara’s earlier songs, but have a great sound of their own that simply makes me happy. I won’t gush anymore but please do check them out.

The people who I really want to go on about were London Dreamtime featuring performer and songwriter Katy Carr. The trio opened Girl Fawkes with a story that painted a picture of a ghostly, old-time South London where a young girl is buried alive in a circus act, only to be consumed by the spirits that lay below. There is so much joy to be had in being told a story, and the perfect combination of Vanessa Woolf’s narrative, Nigel of Bermondsey’s music and Katy Carr’s vocals was hypnotic to the point where I was an eager as a child to hear what would happen next. Before the event, I’d had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa and Katy for a quick chat on storytelling and the inspiration behind the ghostly tale they were telling that night.

When the door of the dressing room opened, the first thing that struck me was the beautiful 1940s vintage looks of the two women in front of me. The second thing was their absolute friendliness as they ushered me into the room and settled down in order to discuss their work. Ladyfest is to Vanessa ‘a celebration of women in art’ and is generally known as an arts movement with a very DIY spirit. It’s a kind of feminism through creativity that Ladyfest supports in order to make sure that female artists are given a platform for their work, and Vanessa fits with the values of the festival as she retells stories in order to address the patriarchal stereotypes or cliched gender roles that are often so embedded within fairytales.

‘There are lots of traditional stories out there which I get very frustrated with because they’re good stories but they often hold very old-fashioned view points. They seem to have attitudes on things that not only are they encapsulating but as you tell the story you’re almost passing it on and I really feel strongly that as a storyteller I want to tell stories that reflect the world view that I care about and the things that I think are important. For example I would never tell the story of the Princess and the Pea because you know, how do they find out if she’s a real princess or not? Oh because she’s so delicate (laughs)…I love these stories because they’re fantastic stories, but I want to tell them differently. So quite often I will change the gender of the heroes, or I’ll have two women together or two men together…you want to change those aspects in a story so it’s not just the same old crap.’

Certainly nothing that London Dreamtime performed could be called ‘the same old crap’. The pairing of Vanessa and Nigel of Bermondsey works because of their use of spoken word and song to look at the same subject. ‘We’re inspired by the same sorts of mythology and bits of history of London, and so what will quite often happen is that I will write a story and he will write a song about the same thing.’ Katy Carr was the guest vocalist to Vanessa and Nigel of Bermondsey, or more complexly ‘ambient, sonic, sound additional person’ as Vanessa christened her. Not only did Katy use her voice to aid the spine-tinging atmosphere of Vanessa’s story, but followed that by joining Nigel in performing the song he’d written called ‘In the Garden, where she calls her part: ‘the voices of the Cross Bones Graveyard in Southwark.’

The Cross Bones Graveyard is the inspiration behind Vanessa’s story as well, and a place that the two ladies are incredibly concerned about the fate of. Since medieval times, this piece of unhallowed land has been a place for the burial of ‘single women’, or less politely, prostitutes. Says Vanessa, that prior to Cromwell ‘these prostitutes were actually licensed by the Church yet they weren’t considered good enough to be buried on consecrated ground.’ Her story was inspired by thinking what would be found if you dug down into a place ‘so overcharged with dead’. Katy tells me that a campaign is being run to turn this area of land  into an official memorial garden instead of the carpark that TFL are proposing, so that the souls of the prostitutes who were treated with such hypocrisy by the Church can finally be given some respect. It’s a cause that really deserves some attention and you can find more information on the graveyard and an upcoming fundraiser on the 2nd of December here.

As I said my goodbyes to Vanessa and Katy and went upstairs to take my seat amongst the crowd, a sense of optimism took hold of me and only grew as the event progressed. Girl Fawkes made me feel incredibly positive; positive to find people who boldly campaign for what they believe in and positive that at a great feminist arts event there can be no negativity whatsoever. Ladyfest Ten is taking place from the 12th until the 14th of November in various London venues and you can buy tickets here.

alexrowse.blogspot.com

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