Choman Hardi: Image: Bloodaxe Books

|| June 06: 2016 || ά. The Poet’s Quest for Peace is a unique literary event being held in London this summer: Saturday, June 18, 2016. Internationally renowned poets including Choman Hardi from Kurdistan, Palestinian-American Fady Joudah, exiled Iranian Ziba Karbassi and Agi Mishol, one of Israel’s leading contemporary poets, will join forces to consider the elusive nature of peace.

The Poet’s Quest for Peace: Contemporary Voices Across the Faiths
Saturday, June 18, 2016: 13:00 – 22:00
Liberal Jewish Synagogue
28 St John's Wood Road
London NW8 7HA

The event, curated by Naomi Jaffa – the former Director of The Poetry Trust and Aldeburgh Poetry Festival – has been created to move, disturb and inspire. The ‘quest’ is unusual for a number of reasons. Not only will it see an eclectic group of highly respected poets from ‘opposing’ cultures and faiths all meet under one roof to share and discuss their work, the event itself will take place at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue:LJS: a building dedicated to tolerance and dialogue.

George Szirtes (L): Image: Bloodaxe Books: Fady Joudah (R): Image The Poet's Quest for Peace

The day will include readings, discussions and the opportunity to scrutinise both historic and contemporary literary pieces with the eight participating poets that have been specially chosen for both their cultural diversity and the relevance, appeal and quality of their poems.

Discussions such as ‘what contribution can poetry make to peace processes?’ and ‘peace is not a comfort zone, is poetry?’ will be especially invigorating and provocative.

Agi Mishol: Image: The Poet's Quest for Peace

The event will also see contributions from a number of poetry and peace campaigning organisations including English Pen; Exiled Writers Ink; Jewish Renaissance; Modern Poetry in Translation, Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salaam (Oasis of Peace); Tea & Tolerance; and St Ethelburga.

The Poet’s Quest for Peace – Participating Poets

Agi Mishol is one of Israel’s leading contemporary poets. Born in Transylvania, Mishol is the daughter of Holocaust survivors who arrived in Israel in 1950. She has published sixteen books of poetry in Hebrew and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the coveted Yehuda Amichai Prize for Hebrew Poetry and the Lerici-Pea Prize in Italy. Mishol received an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University. Her work has been translated into several languages and a number of books have been published in translation, including Look There by Graywolf Press, Journal du Verger by Caracteres and Sheherezada by the Institutul Cultural Romania. She lives in an agricultural community and directs the Helicon School of Poetry in Tel Aviv, where she teaches creative writing.

Choman Hardi was born in Kurdistan and lived in Iraq and Iran before seeking asylum in the UK in 1993. She was university-educated at Oxford (BA, Philosophy & Psychology), London (MA, Philosophy) and Kent (PhD, Mental Health) and her post-doctoral research about women survivors of genocide in Kurdistan-Iraq (supported by the Leverhulme Trust) became the subject of her second poetry collection in English, Considering the Women (2015). In 2014 she moved back to her home-city of Sulaimani where she is chair of the department of English at the American University of Iraq.

Fady Joudah is a Palestinian-American medical doctor and formerly a field member of Doctors Without Borders. The son of Palestinian refugees, he was born in Texas, grew up in Libya and Saudi Arabia, and lives with his family in Houston. The Earth in the Attic – the first of his three poetry collections to date – won the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, and he is also the award-winning translator of leading contemporary Palestinian poets Mahmoud Darwish and Ghassan Zaqtan.

George Szirtes was born in Budapest and came to England with his family as refugees after the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. He lives in Norfolk and is a freelance writer, having retired from teaching at the University of East Anglia. Educated in England (and originally trained as a painter), he has always written in English but also translates and edits Hungarian literature. A prolific and prize-winning poet – his New & Collected Poems (2008) numbers over 500 pages;Reel (2004) won the T.S. Eliot Prize – he has made a major contribution to post-war literature and his new collection Mapping the Delta will be published this year.

Joanna Chen was born in London. Her poetry and lyric essays have been published in Poet Lore, Guernica, Word Riot, Narratively, Cactus Heart and Modern Loss, among many others. She has a column in The Los Angeles Review of Books, and is a regular contributor to Garnet News. She has also written for Newsweek, The Daily Beast and The Millions. Her literary translations from Hebrew and Arabic can be found in Poetry International, Asymptote, Mantis, Lunch Ticket and Consequence. She lives in the Ella Valley of Israel.

Maitreyabandhu was born Ian Johnson in 1961, in Warwickshire, and initially trained as a nurse and then studied fine art at Goldsmiths College (alongside Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst). He started attending classes at the London Buddhist Centre (LBC) in 1986 and was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1990. Since then he has lived and worked at the LBC, teaching Buddhism and meditation and writing three books on the subject, including Life with Full Attention: a Practical Course in Mindfulness (2009). In 2010 he founded Poetry East, a London poetry venue exploring the relationship between spiritual life and poetry. And since 2010, he has published two prize-winning pamphlets and two full collections of poems, most recently Yarn (2015).

Sasha Dugdale is a Sussex-born poet, playwright and translator specialising in both classic and contemporary Russian drama and poetry. She worked for the British Council in Russia and set up the Russian New Writing Project with the Royal Court Theatre in London. Since 2012 she has been editor of Modern Poetry in Translation (co-founded in 1965 by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort) and to date she has published three poetry collections – most recently Red House (2011).

Ziba Karbassi was born in Tabriz in north-western Iran from where, as a teenager, she had to flee with her mother and sisters. London has been her adopted home for much of the last 25 years and she first gained attention with ‘Sangsar’ / ‘Death by Stoning’, a poem concerning the public death of a relative. Increasingly known for her astonishing live readings, her poetry is banned in Iran. She writes in her shared mother tongues of Farsi (Persian) and Azeri and works closely with London-based champion and translator Stephen Watts – himself a poet, editor and writer in schools and hospitals tackling issues of well-being and creativity. The first dual-language full-length collection of her poems is due for UK publication in 2017.

Raficq Abdullah is a writer, poet, translator, public speaker and broadcaster. Born in South Africa, he lives in London. Awarded an MBE in 1999 for his interfaith work between Jews, Christians and Muslims, he has published tow books of poetry based on the poems of Muslim mystics Rumi and Attar. His latest book on Shakespeare’s sonnets Reflecting Mercury: Dreaming Shakespeare’s Sonnets has just been published. He is co-writing a book on Islamic law to be published in 2017.

To request an interview with any of the poets please contact Naomi Jaffa: Naomi@NaomiJaffa.co.uk / 0797 410 4487

For further event information please contact Sue Bolsom or Harriett Goldenberg: suebolsom@googlemail.com / 0776 997 6149
hgoldenberg@btinternet.com / 0776 668 5628. ω.

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'Mini-Much' Poetry and Music Festival at Goldsmiths Bestival: June 17

Rosie Lowe

Ghostpoet

|| May 09: 2016 ||On June 17, Bestival, one of the UK’s major festivals, will team up with Goldsmiths, University of London to host a unique public celebration of music, arts and culture. We call this event 'Mini-Much' in the sense that 'too much' is put into 'too short a time-space' as William Blake would say: 'eternity in a hour'.

Bestival at Goldsmiths will bring the excitement of one of the world’s best festivals to the university’s New Cross campus – and will feature a series of talks, music from established stars and the most exciting up-and-coming acts and delicious street food. The day will also celebrate Goldsmiths’ rich cultural heritage as well as showcasing the new creatives emerging from the university. Final-year music students will be playing throughout the day and visitors will also be able to take in a range of Degree Shows which are running across campus.

It will also be a family affair for Bestival founders Josie and Rob da Bank – who are Goldsmiths graduates and were made Honorary Fellows of the university earlier this year.

Bestival Curator Rob da Bank says: “What a fantastic collaboration for us! Josie and I met at Goldsmiths when we were young and reckless 18-year-olds and had an amazing four years there together hatching many of the creative plans and madcap ideas that have forged our careers in party-starting and mass gathering creations. We’re very proud to come back a few years later with some of our musical mates and some inspiring talks and performance. I hope you can join us.”

Patrick Loughrey, Warden of Goldsmiths, University of London said: “Goldsmiths’ alumni are the jewels in our crown – and Josie and Rob are real diamonds. They have bottled the lightning that is Goldsmiths, mixing creativity, dynamism and an entrepreneurial spirit to create something which engages with and entertains tens of thousands of people every year.

"Bestival at Goldsmiths is going to be a family affair thanks to the fantastic line-up, and a brilliant showcase of our past, present and future achievements.

"We want to welcome one and all to campus to soak up the spirit and atmosphere of which we’re so proud.”

On the evening of Friday, June 17, Goldsmiths’ campus will become a festive wonderland of colour and sound. The university’s Great Hall will become the focus for the first half of the evening, with music from hotly-tipped Nocturne, hand-picked from Goldsmiths’ own final-year music festival PureGold, kicking off the party. Goldsmiths Popular Music graduate Rosie Lowe will add a slice of her acclaimed androgynous soul, before multiple Mercury Prize nominee Ghostpoet takes to the stage to headline the Great Hall action with his idiosyncratic flow.

The second half of the evening will see the party decamp to The Stretch in Goldsmiths Students’ Union where the Bestival and Goldsmith teams will fire up the sound system and head for the dancefloor for a late night bacchanalian adventure. With sets from Wired Radio DJs – from the university’s own radio station - and Goldsmiths alumni Goldierocks and Rob da Bank, the landmark event will be brought to a triumphant close by a special guest to be announced very soon.

During Friday daytime Bestival at Goldsmiths will see a free celebration of art, culture and performance. Bestival institution, the Bollywood Cocktail Bar will add a helping of the festival’s escapist spirit where you can relax as a series of DJs programmed by Sunday Best and PureGold.

Transformed by Goldsmiths Fellow and Bestival co-founder Josie da Bank, the campus will radiate the unique magic that has become her trademark and defined Bestival’s aesthetic. Expect luxurious daybeds, striking festoon, stunning flags and eye-catching attention to detail. There will be music on the PureGold stage, programmed by Goldsmiths’ Director of Popular Music, Simon Deacon, while an array of street food vendors from Bestival’s food lovers’ haven, The Feast Collective, will serve up intoxicating flavours from around the world.

Chaired by some of Goldsmiths most eminent alumni and academics, a thought-provoking programme of lectures and talks and will run throughout the day. Collaborating with Goldsmiths’ onsite cinema Curzon Goldsmiths, there will be themed screenings to echo the event. Current students will also be curating spaces across campus. ω.

Dr Ramya Mohan's Solo Exhibition May 16-20 at the Nehru Centre For more visit The Elleesium

The Poet’s Quest for Peace: Contemporary Voices Across the Faiths: June 18 For more visit The Elleesium

Poetre: The Union of Poetry and the Poet in One Unity of Equilibrium: No, It is Not Poetry Mis-spelt

Poetre is when and where poetry and poet become one before an audience; taking them to the same state of being. You cannot get actors:actresses do poetre but only the poets themselves can reach that oneness with the poetry that they have lived and created and only they can take the audience to that state of being when they do poetre. There is fine art and here we have Poetre the finest, purest form of poetry. Here the poet is the trellis on and around which the poem is the living vine rising and becoming and the poet is the flow of life in that living, growing, breathing vine. When a poet reads she:he becomes the poem being read. Imagine that poem being a water lily in a lake. The audience is the lake looking at the water lily as well as holding its reflection and rhythmic resonance.

Poetre is not theatre for poetry is not fiction: we agree with John Keats, poetry's business is truth and beauty and to a poet they are like the pen and ink inseparable yet interchangeable at the same time.

That's why an actor/actress may play Hamlet or Desdemona but they cannot act this:

'''I gave you the legends of lights and the epic solemnity of the Ithacan dawns where roamed creatures that sung your soul's metaphors and created structures, shapes and colours that no eyes could see and that you did not know you had created for nothing comes outside unless they reside in 'some inside'. Because I found you in my soul from where these legends of lights grew and spread out onto the dawn-roses and went mad splashing out the universe.

The creatures keep on singing something unfathomable. How can we fathom the infinity of a tiny, almost invisible seed of a dandelion? How can we clap into a measure the eternity of a neuron or an absolutely flexible yet perpetually constant at work of a flowing single capillary? This joy of their music is a perpetual convergence of blues becoming lights and lights becoming blues: it is the convergence of joys and pains.

And where they converge universes collide and spectacles rise and fall for there are symphonies being played out in that legends and the epic expositions to which I gave you the key.

Rise and look all about you and see your heart jubilate for it is outside of you for the universe is inside you and before you. That what is inside is outside and that what is outside is inside and that resonance: can you feel that resonance?

Where do you begin to sing? When do you begin to praise? O, the cities of joys! O, the Cities of pains. And yet we go to both cities following the same path: how do we go to joy following the same path that takes us to pain, too? Can you not stop and wonder and gasp at the magic of this astounding feature of life? Let there be one moment in which we are nothing but a momentary eternity's infinite wonders: in oneness may humanity achieve eternity and keep hold of it in every breath.

For this is life, for this is love, for this is the essence of what the heart beats for and why thousands of miles of capillaries rush with blood, billions of neurons synapse and pia, dura and arachnoidal maters keep at work as grey and white matters keep singing in the dark while maintaining the blood brain barriers and the genome keeps on coding and decoding, transcripting and translating. This is the song of the heartbeats, the song of the capillaries.

Love and become love for you are only once and love and become love so that when you say: 'I am'' mean it to be the equal of 'I do': Love.

And here The Humanion opens the window to Poetre. It is not poetry mis-spelt: it is POETRE

May 09, 2016

The Humanion

Here are Some Emmatries

And Here we publish from Munayem Mayenin's Poetry Collection, Seagull Liberty's Poetwrheath: ISBN: 978-1-291-13793-4: First Published: October 25, 2012: Copyrights @ Munayem Mayenin, London, UK 1990-2012
 

What are Emmatries: Emmatries ( emma-trees): poetry that seeks the truth and sings the beauty regardless of which way it seeks it or approaches it or sings it. From the beginning or from the end, it still sings the magic and its magnificence of life and this astounding Universe where this spectacle of life unfolds unfolding us with her. Emmatries are poetry of a new world, a new language, a new magnetism of life and its expressive exuberance. Emmatries invites the readers to abandon the known world and venture bravely into a new world that already exists in the mind, soul and body of the reader in terms of his/her dream and the way they enrich him/her life. Emmatries crafts with the diamond cuts into life and tries to sculpt out emmaphires; at least, that's what it tries. Emmatries are the business of making life sing emmaphires that this market not only does not know but also cannot ever sell.

New Phoenix Gold

Let’s break the earth to golden dust
And add the cement of water in it
And dough we make of new gold

Of new gold make we dough and
In it of the cement water add and
To golden dust the earth let’s break

And let’s clay out new phoenix-gold
And blow in life that you and I hold
And they rise-fly like motion-waves

Like motion-waves rise-fly they and
Hold I and you that in life blow and
Phoenix-gold new clay out let’s and

There they fly in new flights and sing
They do new Sibelius in anew notes
And scales and scores and anew new

New anew and scores and scales and
In notes anew Sibelius new do they
Sing and in new flights fly they there


This Magic I Give You: You Give I This Magic

Tell the tree to rise downward
The roots must seek to grow
Must they hold the whole earth

Earth the whole hold must they
To grow must seek: the roots
Downward to rise the tree: tell

Tell the tree to rise upward
The branches must seek to grow
Must they hold the Universe

The Universe hold they must
To grow seek must the branches
Upward to rise the tree: tell

So that it is not in a pot down
Or up and it goes all clasping in
Tell the tree it must be a spring

A spring be must it the tree:tell
Clasping in all goes it and up or
Down in a pot or not it is that so

Emmatries are Emmaphires from a language that does not exist in dictionaries nor the concepts, ideas, states and ideaphores they bring exist in the norm-taught cultures or spheres. You want to create: go and create; do not imitate or get dictated to do so. To create is to bring something forth that does not exist so that by becoming existent it takes us forward to a point where we are 'enriched' for it because now we know how we were without it. These come from a universe where idearian symphonies are played out onto the spread of the ocean of the echoing eternities where one is simply a drop of water merged onto the body of the ocean that one simply has ceased as an 'ego' and become one with the whole. This place, neither the market nor its market-god' knows anything of or about. This is the place where poets must find a home from where 'to sing the truth' as Rilke says.

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