Translated by Hafiz Kheir, Atef Alshaer & Rashid El Sheik with Mark Ford and Sarah Maguire.
This week as part of the PTC’s Resistance Poets series we bring you two poems by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, a Sudanese poet who writes in Arabic.
‘Poem of the Nile’ was published in The London Review of Books one of the rare occasions the LRB has published poetry translated from Arabic and the first time they featured the work of an African poet.
‘They Think I Am a King: Yes, I Am the King’ is from a book of poems by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi inspired by the Petrie Museum’s collection of material from Meroe in Sudan. which was nominated for a Ted Hughes Award.
The PTC Resistance Poets season looks at poets as political activists. This selection brings together four poets who are unafraid to engage with the urgent political issues of our day, sometimes explicitly addressing inequity and tragedy were they find it, yet often simply holding a space for reflection and joy amidst dark times and chaos.
Get the Resistance Poets Book Bundle here: www.poetrytranslation.org/shop/resistance-poets
