Wander

Since October 7th, Israel has killed at least thirteen Palestinian poets and writers in Gaza. One of the most renowned is Saleem Al-Naffar. Throughout his life and career he advocated for peaceful resistance and documented the Palestinian struggle to survive.

Hamas’ actions on October 7th and their refusal to hand over the hostages were despicable actions by a corrupt terrorist organisation. But Hamas’ actions were not carried out by the thousands of men, women and children who’ve been killed since October. Hamas is not these thirteen poets and writers. Hamas is not Saleem Al-Naffar.

Al-Naffar was born in a refugee camp in Gaza, his family having been displaced from Jaffa, and as a child he moved with his family to Jordan and then Syria. He studied Arabic literature at Tishreen University in Syria and in 1994, returned to Gaza, where he published poetry collections, novels, and his autobiography.

His poem Life reads, “Knives might eat / what remains of my ribs, / machines might smash / what remains of stones, / but life is coming, / for that is its way, / creating life even for us.”

On Dec. 7 2023, Al-Naffar and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Gaza City. 

This is an extract of his poem, ‘O Lovers’:

'Many corners of our home

are wound with our history.

Time did not exclude us.

Their crazy evil machine

did not smash our hopes.

The perfume of right sleeps in arteries

buried inside us.

Even if our footpaths lengthened

and our tragedies went further than insane,

right will come, slowly.'

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The poet, Heyba Kamal Abu Nada, who wrote the novel Oxygen is Not for the Dead, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on October 20th.

The poet, novelist, and community activist Omar Abu Shaweesh was killed on October 7th during the shelling of the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.

On October 16, writer Abdullah Al-Aqad was killed, alongside his wife and children, when an Israeli shell struck his house in Khan Younis. 

Writer and journalist Mustafa Hassan Mahmoud Al-Sawwaf was killed, alongside several members of his family, when an Israeli shell struck his home on November 18th.

And it just goes on and on. Many of these poets and writers killed along with their families.

The poet and writer Nour al-Din Hajjaj was the author of the play The Gray Ones and the novel Wings That Do Not Fly. This was his final message to the outside world:

‘This is why I am writing now; it might be my last message that makes it out to the free world, flying with the doves of peace to tell them that we love life, or at least what life we have managed to live; in Gaza all paths before us are blocked, and instead we’re just one tweet or breaking news story away from death.

Anyway, I’ll begin.

My name is Nour al-Din Hajjaj, I am a Palestinian writer, I am twenty-seven years old and I have many dreams.

I am not a number and I do not consent to my death being passing news. Say, too, that I love life, happiness, freedom, children’s laughter, the sea, coffee, writing, Fairouz, everything that is joyful—though these things will all disappear in the space of a moment.

One of my dreams is for my books and my writings to travel the world, for my pen to have wings so that no unstamped passport or visa rejection can hold it back.

Another dream of mine is to have a small family, to have a little son who looks like me and to tell him a bedtime story as I rock him in my arms.’

Nour al-Din Hajjaj was killed by an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza on December 2nd 2023. 

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If you want to support a Palestinian poet who managed to escape with his family - Mosab Abu Toha’s poetry book ‘Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear’.

And writer Mahmoud Jouda needs support for The Right To Narrate Our Stories.

My guests this week: Caleb, Wealth, Angel, Gregory, Daphne, Edwin, Diamond, Nicosha and Promise - some of the inspiring young people⁠ Raphael Olympio⁠ works as a youth mentor with the Cork Migrant Centre (who featured last episode).

I recorded this a couple of months ago so the Anti-Racism Summit we talk about was going to be on at the end of May, and it’s interesting to hear how they were all preparing for this, and why it’s so important to have an event like this.

Many thanks again to the Arts Council who funded this particular workshop - and to Raphael and Fionnuala O’Connell of the Cork Migrant Centre.

Shout out also to the Haven Cafe, on Bachelors Quay in Cork who provided the space for the young people.

Created with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland.

Raphael Olympio, aka Olympio, is an immensely talented rapper and spoken word artist from Cork who was born in Togo, West Africa. He grew up in a Direct Provision Centre and feels inspired to motivate others who come from different parts of Africa and other countries across the world - and is a youth mentor with the Cork Migrant Centre. 

Olympio has performed at UBUNTU: Local is Global (a CIPHER Hip Hop Interpellation) featured on RTE's Change Makers, and he’s been part of numerous collaborations and performances at  Indiependence, Electric Picnic, Other Voices, and more. 

He's released several spoken word/hip hop music videos - and the latest one called EPG (Exploitation, Power Greed) is absolutely brilliant, go and check it out.

He wrote a beautiful piece especially for this episode and we talk about social and racial anxiety, the richness of Africa, his creative process, and how his work as a mentor inspires and motivates him.

The creative work he does with the young people in the Cork Migrant Centre is something we look at more in the next episode - when I meet the young people at his workshop.

Thanks so much to Raphael Olympio for all the great - and valuable - work he’s doing  - and thanks to the Arts Council for their support.

This week I’m talking to Iraqi poet, Majed Mujed, who’s lived in Ireland since 2015. One of the founders of the Iraqi House of Poetry, he worked as a journalist and publisher in the Iraqi cultural press for twenty years. He’s published five collections of poetry in Arabic and his first book to be published in Ireland, ‘The Book of Trivialities’ is out now, published by Skein Press.

In 2021, he was one of the inaugural recipients of Skein Presses ‘Play It Forward’ Fellowships from the Arts Council, and we also talk about that in the programme, and how it helped him.

‘The Book of Trivialities’ is originally written in Arabic, and translated into English by the award-winning translator Kareem James Abu-Zeid.

The poet Jessica Traynor has described it as ‘a gem of a book; intimate, tender, thought-provoking and intricately crafted.’ 

Huge thanks to Majed Mujed for talking to me - and to Zainab Salman for interpreting our conversation for us. Thanks so much for listening, and to the Arts Council of Ireland for their support.

Tanya is another member of ‘Write to Life’ – the creative writing and performance group of Freedom from Torture (established in 1997, the longest-running refugee-writing group in Britain, and the only one specifically for survivors of torture.) She explains what writing means to her, how it helps the healing process – and she reads some of her work: her piece ‘Surviving Covid – and then the brook dried up’. And earlier in the programme, her poem called  ‘Treasure’.

The Write to Life creative writing group have some great projects up on the site including:  alphabet of poverty, An A-Z of Poverty a really powerful description of the asylum process – and a series called ‘Lost And Found’ – a combination of speech, song and recorded sound performed by a cast from Iran, Cuba, Uganda and Burundi.  

And again you can find all these at Freedom From Torture.

A huge thanks to Tanya for being part of this episode, and to the Arts Council of Ireland for their continuing support.

Nalougo is a member of a creative writing and performance group with Freedom From Torture. ‘Write To Life’ is the longest-running refugee-writing group in the UK, and the only one specifically for survivors of torture.

They’ve collaborated with many galleries and museums, have produced zines, and have created several projects including one called the  alphabet of poverty which explores the many failures of the asylum system in the UK.

As you’ll hear Nalougo explain, ‘Write To Life’ offers a valuable space for people to process their experiences, and he feels strongly that it could benefit so many more people.

A huge thanks to Nalougo for talking to me, and for reading his poems, ‘Belonging’ and ‘Time’. 

Find out more about the Freedom From Torture creative writing group ‘Write to Life’.

Poet and playwright, Nandi Jola, lived in South Africa under the apartheid regime until she was 21, when she moved to Northern Ireland.

She’s a Rachel Baptiste 2022 Programme recipient at Smock Alley Theatre. A creative writing facilitator for Ulster University ‘Books Beyond Boundaries’, and a commissioned poet for Poetry Jukebox and Impermanence Way Archive Project 2022.   Her play “The Journey”, opened the International Literature Festival in Dublin in 2020, and she represented Northern Ireland at the Transpoesie Poetry Festival in 2021.  

We talk about Direct Provision, South Africa, and the threat of deportation that hangs over so many people. Her debut poetry collection - Home is Neither Here Nor There - is published by Doire Press and is a beautiful, personal account of growing up under apartheid in South Africa, and her struggle as an immigrant in Belfast. 

And she reads two poems from this collection - ‘I’m Not A Racist, But’ and ‘Ink’ and her specially commissioned piece for WANDER.

Thanks again to the Arts Council of Ireland for funding this new commission - and for their support for this podcast series.

Felicia Olusanya aka FELISPEAKS, is a Nigerian-Irish poet, performer and playwright from Co. Longford who’s currently featured on the Leaving Cert English Curriculum with their poem ‘For Our Mothers'. They’re a member of WeAreGriot, a poetry collective consisting of herself, Dagogo Hart & Samuel Yakura  (who we talked to in the last episode) and a board member of Poetry Ireland. 

They also opened for Kate Tempest at Vicar St, and have performed at festivals such as Mother Tongues, Women and Children First, in Belgium, Wexford Literary Festival, Cuirt, and the National Concert Hall’s Notes from a Quiet Land in 2021.

We've a great conversation about racism, George Nkencho, feminism, and their creative process - and their latest video, ‘Tough Meat’ which was just released a few months ago.

You can find them @felispeaks on the socials // felispeaks.com

Samuel Yakura is a Nigerian born writer, poet and performing artist living in Ireland. He's a multiple-time Slam Champion both in Nigeria and in Ireland, winning Slam competitions like ALS, OxFam, and Talkatives. He's a member with the WeareGriot Poetry Collective who run regular poetry/rap and hip hop events in Dublin.

He’s also done commissioned works for the likes of Summer in the city, Poetry Ireland, Dublin Fringe, Adrian Brinkerhoff Foundation, IMMA, Gaisce Awards, amongst others. And his play, ‘The Perfect Immigrant’ premiered at the New Theatre, at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2022. 

We talked about his poetry videos on Tiktok, the slam poetry scene in Abuja before he left, his play, 'The Perfect Immigrant', spoken word and Joshua Bennet, and more about his creative process.

Find more of his work on his site - samuelyakura.com and on his Tiktok @samuelyakura

Sandrine Ndahiro is a writer and activist who moved to Ireland in 2006 from Rwanda. She’s the co-founder of Unsliencing Black Voices and co-editor of Unapologetic - an interdisciplinary, cultural literary magazine that celebrates marginalised voices who tackle social issues here in Ireland. The first issue of Unapologetic featured literature, artwork and articles on the theme of ‘Change Makers’, and the second issue on the theme of ‘Inbetween’. 

With a Masters in African Literature from Limerick University, her work has appeared at the Dingle Literary Festival and at the Frederick Douglass Festival. She’s also a regular contributor to the online publication, Rogue Collective, and is currently starting to put together the third issue of Unapologetic.

She reads a piece specially commissioned for this podcast, inspired by a photograph of when she was a child growing up in a refugee camp - and we’ve a great conversation about her background, her influences, and how she sees the future of Ireland developing.