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Seven Arab Poets, Together in Madrid
From June 03, 2014 until June 09, 2014
June 9. Casa Árabe is bringing together Talat Shahin (Egypt), Mohamad Osman (Syria), Malak Mustafa (Syria), Muhsin Al-Ramli (Iraq), Abdul Hadi Sadoun (Iraq), Ahmad Yamani (Egypt) and Khalid Kaki (Iraq) in Madrid.
On the occasion of the publishing of Hijos de la travesía. Siete poetas árabes actuales en España (Children of the Crossing. Seven Contemporary Arab Poets in Spain), these writers will be taking part in an event with readings in Spanish and Arabic, accompanied by musical performances given by Arab oud player Khalid Kaki. Presenting the event will be José Sarria, the anthology’s editor.
The event will be held in the Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) at 7:00 p.m., with free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
Children of the Crossing represents not only the presentation of an anthological work by several contemporary Arab poets (Syrian, Egyptian and Iraqi) residing in Spain, but also something which transcends beyond just literature itself. This anthology contributes a fundamental part of the acknowledgement necessary for both forms of otherness: an opportunity for mutual knowledge, which will, without a doubt, become the foundation for a future rapprochement.
The children and heirs of this long crossing by Eastern literature, which has lasted several millennia, these recent Arab creators have reached our borders with the strong certainty that they bear with them an age-old, abundant, fertile legacy. And they present themselves not as the “only” ones, or in a solitary fashion, but rather as the closest links in a long chain whose roots hark back to the greatest literary tradition from the East, and therefore they arrive along with their own poems and those of others who, across generations, have handed down the legacy of the first writers who believed they were hearing the voice of the Gods along the shores of the rivers in Babylonia and in the great deserts, to make it understandable to mankind.
Not without risk, and with a great sense of responsibility, this group of seven Arab poets faces the challenge of providing the Spanish public with a meaningful sample of contemporary Arab poetry: Talat Shahin (Egypt), Mohamad Osman (Syria), Malak Mustafa (Syria), Muhsin Al-Ramli (Iraq), Abdul Hadi Sadoun (Iraq), Ahmad Yamani (Egypt) and Khalid Kaki (Iraq), offer not only their poems with the accompanying anthology, but also the “color of water,” as it is masterfully described by Syrian poet Adonis:
“Your color is the color of water,
oh, body of language
there where the water is
yeast, lightning or fire.”
The event will be held in the Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) at 7:00 p.m., with free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
Children of the Crossing represents not only the presentation of an anthological work by several contemporary Arab poets (Syrian, Egyptian and Iraqi) residing in Spain, but also something which transcends beyond just literature itself. This anthology contributes a fundamental part of the acknowledgement necessary for both forms of otherness: an opportunity for mutual knowledge, which will, without a doubt, become the foundation for a future rapprochement.
The children and heirs of this long crossing by Eastern literature, which has lasted several millennia, these recent Arab creators have reached our borders with the strong certainty that they bear with them an age-old, abundant, fertile legacy. And they present themselves not as the “only” ones, or in a solitary fashion, but rather as the closest links in a long chain whose roots hark back to the greatest literary tradition from the East, and therefore they arrive along with their own poems and those of others who, across generations, have handed down the legacy of the first writers who believed they were hearing the voice of the Gods along the shores of the rivers in Babylonia and in the great deserts, to make it understandable to mankind.
Not without risk, and with a great sense of responsibility, this group of seven Arab poets faces the challenge of providing the Spanish public with a meaningful sample of contemporary Arab poetry: Talat Shahin (Egypt), Mohamad Osman (Syria), Malak Mustafa (Syria), Muhsin Al-Ramli (Iraq), Abdul Hadi Sadoun (Iraq), Ahmad Yamani (Egypt) and Khalid Kaki (Iraq), offer not only their poems with the accompanying anthology, but also the “color of water,” as it is masterfully described by Syrian poet Adonis:
“Your color is the color of water,
oh, body of language
there where the water is
yeast, lightning or fire.”
