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 Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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كلمة وزيرة الموطنة وشئون التعدد الثقافي بغرب استرالياMargaret Quirk
• Missá al kheir [Arabic for good evening.] distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman.
• To begin with, I would like to acknowledge the Noongar people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today.
• It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight to launch the collection of verse, ‘Bet of the Argil’, by Mr. Afeif Ismail.
• As you would be aware, Mr. Ismail is a poet, playwright and artist, born in the Sudan. He became a member of the Western Australian community in 2003.
• In addition to his active involvement in literarature, Mr. Ismail has been involved in sport and cross-cultural activities, and is a strong human rights advocate, having experienced first-hand political persecution and imprisonment.
• The cruelty he has been subjected to is the inspiration for his poems. He says that, through them, he experienced a sense of freedom during his incarceration. In his poetry, he writes poignantly of that time: ‘I felt that my poems were free like a bird; this prison has not been able to contain me or isolate me from my goals. The jailer is no longer effective’.
• I am particularly pleased to be launching a book that explores with great depth of feeling and emotion one of the most important issues of our time.
• Through the power of word, Afeif Ismail, brings to life the harsh reality of the degradation of human rights he experienced. The poems are simple, but also have a deeper layer of complexity; they are tumultuous and yet calming; they are revealing and yet gracious; they are subtle but also deafening.
• Through his poetry, Afeif has taken us through a journey of his culture which is intertwined with feelings of sadness, pain, despair, fate and hope – feelings we all experience at some time or other but that have special meaning for refugees who are robbed of their lands and forced to take refuge elsewhere. More than anything else, the publication epitomises Afeif’s search and fight for freedom.
• The power of poetry on the human spirit and its capacity to unite enemies, to break silences, to expose injustices and to empower the powerless comes to light distinctly in this publication.
• Sadly, human rights is still an area that lacks awareness and understanding. We must be ever-vigilant to ensure that, in this State and elsewhere in Australia and the world, the rights of all individuals are not compromised.
• Western Australia is now home to some 1500 people who have come from the Sudan in search of a new life.
• Since 2003, Western Australia has welcomed more than 900 Sudanese people through the Humanitarian program, adding to the rich diversity that characterizes our inclusive multicultural society. I agree completely with Mr. Ismail’s assertion that ‘diversity creates dimension in our world’.
• I congratulate Mr. Ismail on his achievement in writing this important book, and also on his contributions not only to art but to human rights..
• I would like to take this opportunity to wish him every success. I would also like to acknowledge the pool of talent and skills that humanitarian residents like Mr. Ismail bring to Western Australia, enriching us as individuals and as a society.
• I would like to conclude by reading a short verse from the collection which I think might reflect most appropriately the character of its author . The poem is called “Equation”:
‘The fanatics call him; heretic.
The independents call him; non-principled.
People of the left call him; dissident.
Himself!
He loves God’s face.
Bread
And Freedom.’
• Thank you and atamana lakuun masáan sayidan
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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كلمةالسيد ٌٌRamdas Shankaran رئيس مجلس الجمعيات الأثنية:
Ramdas Shankaran
Ethinc Communities Council- President
Honourable Margaret Quirk Minister for Multicultural Affairs,
The Man of the Moment Poet Afeif Ismail Abdelrazig,
ECC & MSC board members & Ethnic community leaders.
Distinguished Guests One and All.
Welcome to the first official function that ECC has hosted since Margaret Quirk was appointed Minister for Multicultural Affairs and my election as President of ECC late last year.
If I may be ever so cheeky and embarrass the Minister I would like to share a comment I made to her in private and its not about the splendid outfit that she has graced this occasion with. Without in any way casting aspersions on her predecessors, I believe she is on a wavelength that is markedly different from them regardless of their political affiliations, for she has already shown that she is prepared to grapple with the “Too hard basket issues”, that ECC wants tackled. ECC looks forward to working with you Minister in your quest to make this state one which cherishes our diversity, respects differences and ensures equity and participation for all, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, religion etc.
Friends I couldn’t have picked a better occasion to welcome you to an ECC function. This book launch acknowledges the courage, tenacity, resilience, humility and brilliance of one man, Afeif, Ismail Abdelrazig. However, it also reminds us of the enormous contributions that refugees and humanitarian entrants have made to the soul of this country. Yes economic development is very important but so is cultural and spiritual development, and I don’t mean of the religious kind. Sadly when we talk about skilled migration we overlook the skills that poets like Afief bring to this country. Not many of us can claim that we have given more to our country than we have received from it. Afeif sure can make such a claim.
Afeif’s book Bet of the Argil is very rich soul food and its messages transcend the boundaries of race, ethnicity and religion. The subject matter he has covered is diverse and rich and the speakers that follow me are better qualified to comment on them. I will draw your attention to the one about Darfur. I have heard it recited in public several times and read it many times as well. Its impact on me has grown not lessened on each occasion. What reputable journalists have done in reams of print matter to convey the horror of war, Afeif has managed to do better in one mind-blowing poem. I only wish our trigger-happy macho leaders the world over read this poem. Maybe world peace will then be a reality.
Afief thank you for making Australia your home albeit in very difficult circumstances and thank you for sharing your wisdom and literary skills. ECC and MSC hold people like you in great regard not just for your skills and talents but also for your contribution in bringing diverse people together. A quick look around demonstrates just that. ECC and MSC are determined to use culture and arts in a much more interactive way to promote harmony and justice and people like you have an important role to play in this regard.
So we look forward to your continued association and on behalf of both organisations I congratulate you on the publication of the Bet of the Argil and may we be blessed with many more such publications. A special word of thanks to Carmelita who played a significant role in organising this function and your MC for the evening Mr. Russell Raymond, the Chair of MSC and Secretary of FECCA and a lot more.
I close with a strong recommendation that you buy a copy of Afeif’s book. It’s one purchase you will never regret.
Thank you all for attending and hope you have an enjoyable evening.
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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كلمة الناشرة ٍSheila Jessop
The publisher’ Speech- the poet Sheila Jessop B-Wignall
I acknowledge the Hon.Margaret Quirk: Minister of citizenship and multicultural affairs; Prof.Dennis Haskell; thePresident of the Ethnic Community Council; Leaders and members of the Sudanese Afro-Arabic community; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen and children..
Our co-ordinator for multi-cultural arts projects,Carmeliitta; I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to pay my deep respects to the writer and poet, Afeif Ismail Abdelrazig.
From the moment of our first meeting,we have been friends.
Kahlil Gibran;in his book "Wings of Thought"; said: words to this effect-------
what is not known and revealed in that first moment of meeting; cannot be developed though you may spend a lifetime or even generations in persuit of it.
I have lived a long time, In many differing environments; met clever and gifted, even great people, but in all honesty, I have never met a soul of such deep integrity; such piercing insight, and who is such a master of his art...
On the back of Afeif's book, you will see some astute comments from
From some of his companions, who have said a few words about Afeif's work. Our dear friend Ross Bolliter made a very astute observation, which struck a new chord in me; i.e the end of the poem always surprises, turning sometimes like a tiger', taking a sudden new direction' which startles the reader and prods one awake.
This gift is unique and quite powerful. It is characteristic of Afeif's work alone. Afeif's dedication, and the hard work he put into helping me with my book “ Growing Pains” enabled the publication of it in November 2005.
This book would not have come to fruition, without his dogged belief in me and my worth., thank you Afeif, my dear friend.
Afeif,his wife Nazik, and myself dream along the same lines. With the help of the other members of the organization; we hope to launch "Wings" into orbit. So far we have about eight members.Our hope is to see this dream of Afeif's grow and bring all cultures together in the world of CREATING.
We have called the organization "Wings Organization for Cross-cultural Development". This is in the process now of becoming an officially recognised Association Inc.
Think what a blessing this could be to people who have something to say in
the sphere of poetry, art, or indeed creation of all kinds. to be able to belong to an organization which does not cost an arm and a leg.
We pray that this will grow to include many activities to further our goals of cross-cultural development and integration in our community., for Afro-Arabic and Australian people. We hope folks will come to respect and learn from one another's cultures. Afeif's vision in this respect is unwavering.
I cannot explain how much I have gained from close contact with this ancient Sudanese culture; Afeif and Nazik's family and the people I have met through them
have enriched my life.
To turn to the book itself, “ Bet of the Argil”.
It is reveal that many people are puzzled by this name. As you will know a “bet” is a wager, a gamble is what life seems to be all about sometimes. So here, we are having a “bet” on “ Argil” which is clay or mud. How can we do that? Well, where did we come from? What will the clay give birth to? Will it produce good or evil? Will it breed love or hate? Growth or destruction? Who knows? It is a bet.
Afeif chose one of my paintings for the cover of his book.
My painting is entitled, “The Womb of the Clay” .
One of this things we both delight to do, is to translated from Arabic to English. As you will see from Afeif’s book, Dr Aida Seif El-dawla has done an excellent job in translations; in our purpose we test our knowledge of vocabulary and to find just the right word from the Arabic language. It is a great challenge, because as many of you are aware there is no language as rich and diverse as the Arabic language.
It has been a joy. One which includes Nazik, and the three children, Rafeif, Wareif and Shadi. Great knowledge !
It just remains for me to wish my friend well in his endeavors at “Tafe”in his graphic art studies. That he has good results in his application to the Arts Council for a grant to carry on translating, creating, writing and working for cross-cultural understanding and friendship; as well as the daunting task of both Nazik and Afeif
( Nazik having her own work as a lawyer to establish) in bringing up three robust and very, very vocal and intelligent children Rafeif, Wareif and Shadi.
One thing I would like to mention before closing is that, I and Afeif represent the Publishing organization called “ Samantha” International and Multicultural Publishing I named this organization in honour of a unique and beloved, now diseased, cat. She bravely battled through most of her life with three legs. I can relate to that.
Afeif’s idea to use this organization for international and multicultural publishing so that others be given the opportunity to have their work put into print, in the English language. We will edit, layout and get the work printed. This is our dream
We are seeking funding from the Arts Council. So here’s hoping!
Thank you for listening to me.
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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جزء من كلمة البروفيسر Professor Dennis Haskell واستاذ الأدب بجامعة غرب أستراليا
Afeif, poets, dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen.
I met Afeif at the end of 2003, not long after his
arrival in this country. He came here as
a political refugee.
I am indeed very pleased to say something about
afeif's poems tonight.
I must say that the honorable Margaret Quirk would
make a better literary critic than i would a
politician as she mentioned ,Afeif's background in Sudan ,and his suffering at the hands of an abominable dictatorial regime, the repeated
savage treatment of him dealt out in his many
confinements in prison ,in the poem 'martyrs gain nothing but their own death I find this amazingly detached and unfussed,shewing no emotion ,or mention of his own martyrdom.
Afeif's poems do reflect his own experiences, but in this calm detached and unemotional way, ;rather like Albert Camus work.
For someone like me who has grown up in Australia, Afeif's poems seem remarkably calm and detached; a quizzical stance and non-romantic. He is an observer.....
the poem 'darkness ' is typical.,no strutting
,pragmatic ,and very much to the point.,;in fact 'Bet of the Argil', echoes what Margaret was saying.
Afeif's spirit cannot be imprisoned.
freedom is in the spirit, and prison cannot contain
this.
This poetry is strong evidence that tyranny and savage dictatorial regimes cause enormous suffering. ,however they never can achieve their goals. his poetry is a testament that this kind of soul cannot be imprisoned.
even in the quiet little poems, this is evident e.g.
'people commit suicide for trivial reasons
and
for the same reasons
they
commit living.
------very quirky!! all his poems are like that.
Emily Dickinson , who was, I think, the greatest
American poet, says 'tell all of the truth ;',and this is what
Afeif does
''erase allof us ,,and leave the sun''............see/????
‘‘The usurer mourned because he had lost a great
client!!!!!"
quirky again-----a sense of humour,...there's
bitterness there
as well.,,,brain teasers almost, you could say,,..
this is a very different kind of poetry,,than that
which we are all used to. In the English speaking
tradition
''the shadow of the sword told
the shadow of the knight
''i could
kill you
without blood.....!!!!!
It’s undeniably true, and I will go on thinking about
these things-----well------
forever I suppose........
(عدل بواسطة elmahasy on 06-11-2006, 05:56 AM)
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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كلمة السيد Kumsa من جالية الأرومو بغرب استراليا، والمركز الكاثوليكي لموارد المهاجرين
The Hon. Margaret Quirk
Minister for citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
Invited Guests
I am very much privileged to speak on the official launching of ‘Bet of the Argil’ a poem book written by Afeif Isamil.
First of all I would like to congratulate Afeif for his persistence and the victory he has achieved in writing and publishing this book. This must be a tremendously relief moment for Afief as his opinion, argument, joy, frustration, happiness and disappointments are heard by his readers. I believe that the driving curiosity behinds most artists including writers and journalists are to be heard and listened. Afief! - here you go, now you have many ears that listened to you and many eyes that watch you not necessarily physically but through the ‘Bet of the Argil’
I first met Afeif and his wife Nazik and their three children at Perth International Airport only a few minutes after they touched down on the Australian soil. I work for the Catholic Migrant Centre and this organization was responsible for the early settlement of humanitarian entrants to which Afeif and his family were categorized. It was exactly at the same place and situation that I was met with somebody about ten years ago.
As a settlement coordinator my first duty was to facilitate the family’s clearance through the Custom and Immigration. As you may guess, most refugees are very nervous at the point of their first arrival for very understandable reasons. Why wouldn’t they be nervous? – they are coming to an environment entirely new to them. When you do not know how a society functions your social and cultural capital become worthless. Every step of your daily journey is difficult and frustrating. During their early settlement period, refugees face cocktail of challenges. Language, culture, separation from the loved once, trauma and torture suffered, fear, anger, shame and etc manifest themselves simultaneously in the little mind of a human brain.
I was surprised that unlike most of my clients Afeif was calm and subtle when I first met him at the Airport. He looks like he knows the place and he masters his expectations. He was so calm and shows no sign of shock at all. After we finalized the clearance process and while I was driving them to their on arrival accommodation, I asked him why he was extremely quite at the airport as starting of a friendly discussion. Afeif smiled and amazingly replied that he was writing a poem about starting life in an entirely different social set up. I am sure that this specific piece of work will be part of his next book.
As time goes the relationship between me and Afeif has grown beyond worker-client type. As a former journalist and author, I become deeply touched by Afeif’s intellectual capacity and artistic line of thought. His feelings and visions, his pains and scars have captured my inner soul. During many occasions, we have discussed various issues of interest to both of us. Issues such as what forced refugees to leave their homeland and the daunting process of resettlement. Most importantly, we often talk about mother Africa - with her wholeness and diversity, richness and poverty, her traditional tolerance and the modern political dictatorship, impacts of global orders and the savageness of the home grown tyrants etc. Afeif has written all these in various forms and shapes in his book ‘Bet of the Argil’
Afeif’s book offers a good opportunity to glimpse the insight of Afro-Arabic linguistic expression and poetic imagination. Here is an opportunity for all of us –for me and you – for Australia as a multicultural nation. There are abundant potentials for Australia to teach and to learn, to give and to take. Migration brought to Australia a lot of pluses not minuses. Many think that Africans are latecomers to Australia. It could be true but we better also understand that Africans have a lot to positively contribute to the Australian multiculturalism. Therefore, let me conclude my speech by by stressing a simple logic - if you intend to harvest a remarkable benefit tomorrow, invest generously today.
Once again congratulations Afeif! - and thank you all who have involved directly or indirectly in making this book a reality
Kumsa Bellew
Team Leader, Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy
Catholic Migrant Centre
Perth, Western Australia
04/02/06
(عدل بواسطة elmahasy on 06-11-2006, 07:06 PM)
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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كلمة الشاعر عبد الله مصطفي آدم، عن الجمعية السودانية الاسترالية:
About .. The .. Bet
Abdullah Mustafa Adam
It was a wonderful spring day on the green plains of Samargand. King Timorlink who slaughtered thousands of innocent men, women and children to establish his kingdom held a grand feast to celebrate his victories. Thousands of dignitaries were invited among them was the prominent poet Karmani. It was customary and obligatory in such occasions for poets to shower the king with words of praise. After attracting his invitees’ attention the King who was intoxicated by self pride .. asked the poet:
“ Karmani .. how much would you pay for me .. if I were to sell myself ?.”
Karmani who was gazing at the sky at the time gave the invitees the impression that he was probably searching for an astronomical figure to reply and satisfy the King’s pride or was appealing to his jinni for inspiration to compose a poem which would become the mother of all poems to praise the king with. After a few moments of silence he looked at the king and .. said:
“ If you were to sell yourself .. I would pay 25 Dinars “.
“25 Dinars .. my belt worth 25 Dinars .. what about me”. Surprisingly commented the King.
“ I was thinking about your belt .. .. because you worth less than a cent”.
Sarcastically replied Karmani.
There was a deadly silence .. followed by nothing but silence .. .. This incident took place about 600 years ago on the green plains of Samargand in Uzbekistan. ●
It was Maxim Gorky who first appreciated Karmani's courage and appealed to poets and writers to challenge tyranny and oppression. To speak out .. as injustice can only take place if good women and men said nothing. Unfortunately, history did not tell us what happened to Karmani .. but we all know what happened to Afeif and to thousands of brave poets and writers who heeded Gorky’s and similar appeals.
Bet of the Argil is a poetic vision, a journey through life that manipulates African images, tales and mythology to portray the suffering, the struggle, hope and aspiration of a poet and his nation. The Bet .. also represents a strong protest against injustice, oppression, multinationals and environmental degradation.
In his poem “Darkness” Afeif says .. “ Martyrs .. gain nothing .. except their death”.
The poem challenges the metaphysical ideology perpetuated through hegemony by religious fundamentalists which led the poorest and the most disadvantaged community members to believe that the shortest way to richness and eternal happiness is to die in a holly war .. to be a martyr and the rewards is eternal life in paradise. It is a clear statement by the poet that happiness and richness can not be achieved by metaphysical means and that the earth is the only place we have and where our dreams could be realized. In fact the poem depicts a real situation in the Sudan where the Islamic Government for years has been maintaining the status quo by brain washing and recruiting thousands of would be martyrs. Each of them was given a key and was misled to believe that it was the key to his room in paradise and if killed would find himself instantly in his room. Consequently, they waged a holly war and massacred over two millions innocent men, women and children in Southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains. Tragically, the government has started the same scenario in Darfur and Eastern Sudan. However, despite the absence of rationality and humanity in the ideology of martyrdism there are still some people who after reading this poem would shout loudly at Afeif .. heretic .. non principled .. dissident .. you shall eat the .. bread you love in hell.
In another poem titled the “Battle” Afeif says .. “ the shadow of the sword .. told the shadow of the knight .. I could kill you without blood”. While the shadow of the sward represents tyranny, dictatorship .. extra .. extra .. the shadow of the knight represents democracy or freedom. The dictator tells the democrat or freedom fighter I am not going to kill you in the traditional manner and give human rights organizations the pleasure of taunting me. I am too cleaver than that. I am the media, the judiciary, the legislator and the manufacturer of consent. I could easily rewrite my laws and arrest you as many times as I wish. I could make it impossible for you to get a job. I could harassed you and your family. I could tarnish you reputation. I could character assassinate you and when you could no longer tolerate my tactics you will voluntarily pack your bags, flee this country and seek asylum somewhere else .. full .. stop.
That was exactly what happened to Afeif and to millions of refugees all over the world It is a civil death that exposes the devious nature of tyranny in the 20th Century. A tyranny that suppresses everything human in us .. even our wounds have to bleed inside.
Furthermore, the poems in the Bet collectively form a poetic landscape, a panorama with social, political and ideological dimensions that sometimes vividly and metaphorically manifests personal rage and anguish against elements of oppression. It is a synthesis or a blend of optimistic pessimism and pessimistic optimism coloured eloquently by sarcasm.
Probably, it is fair to say that every poet follows the steps of at least one poet whom s/he admires and seeks inspiration from and probably it is fair also to say that Afeif was inspired among others by the prominent Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet who struggled against tyranny, imprisoned, wrote beautiful poems in prison and then lived in exile. Disregarding certain factors Afeif also struggled against tyranny, imprisoned, wrote beautiful poems in prison and is now living in exile. Furthermore, Afeif poetic vision in the Bet reminds us of Hikmet’s masterpiece in which decades ago loudly declared:
If .. I .. do .. not .. burn …. if .. you .. do .. not .. burn
and .. if .. we .. do .. not .. burn .. together
who .. is .. going .. to .. illuminate .. darkness.
Welcome .. Afeif .. to .. the .. city .. of .. lights.
abdulla mustafa adam
● In “Nazim Hikmet” by Hana Mina
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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الف التبريكات والتهاني للا ستاذ والشاعر / عفيف إسماعيل
اسعدني الخبر حقاً وافرحني لدرجة النشوة
قراءت اشعاراً للاستاذ عفيف وكانت غاية في الجمل والروعة والشعرية
وحين كنت اتسأل من هو هذا الشاعر تاتيني الاجابة أنه من أبناء
الحصحيصاء صادف الوقت أن اخبرني شاب ونحن نتجول بقرب مسجد الخرطوم الكبير
وتحديداً في سوق الكتب أو ما تعارف عليه بمفروش أو الوراقين أن ذاك الشاب
النحيل الطويل هو عفيف إسماعيل ، دُهشت واخبرته معترضاً :- لا ياخ ده زهاء الطاهر
ياخ ، وانا لا اعرف زهاء الطاهر الا من نصوص قصصية قراتها له ولكني في بعض الاوقات
كنت اراه في سوق مفروش للكتب ، ولم ادقق الملمح أو هي عادتي أن تتشابه علي الصور
أكد لي صديقي أن الرجل هو عفيف اسماعيل نظرت اليه ملياً كان هادي يرتدي نظارة طبية ويتحدث مع (كمال وداعة) بائع الكتب الشهير، يتحدث وهو يحمل علي كتفهِ شنطة قماش اظنها
أنا من قماش التيل أو الدمورية وبها رسمة إن لم تخني الذاكرة من ثلاث اللوان (احمر وازرق واصفر رسمة شبيه بشي يبدو كالشعار ...
كنت اريد أن اذهب اليه واشكره بان ما يكتبه مبهج وجميل ويزيد انسانية الروح ..
المحسي ...
اشكرك علي هذا الخبر السعيد ... وتحياتنا اليه ..
وإن تمكنت من استعراض بعض الاشعار أكون في غاية الحبور .
ومودتي.
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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ادناه ما كتبه الشاعر بيتر جيفري Peter Jeffrey، استاذ الجامعة السابق والحائزة علي جائزة الدولة التقديرية في مجال العمل وسط خدمات التعدد الثقافي، في صحيفة المهاجر السودانية التي تصدر بولاية فكتوريا با ستراليا
SUDAN TAKES FRESH ROOT IN AUSTRALIAN SOIL
‘BET OF THE ARGIL’ BOOK LAUNCH
ETHNIC COMMUNITIES COUNCIL OF WA
As late as 6.30, without the benefit of the daylight saving enjoyed in the Eastern States, the late West Australian sun tore in at the side windows of the old North Perth Town Hall
with a full and blinding force, as people assembled for a serious early Saturday evening
entertainment and the launching ceremony of Afeif Ismail Abdelrazig’s first published book in English ‘BET OF THE ARGIL.
Professors and politicians and executive officers mingled with retirees and children, Sudanese and other multicultural Australians and performers, to make an intriguing mix of representative Australia, all keen to learn of each other’s culture and to celebrate the singular qualities of a distinguished poet, whose work has translated with equal vigour into English as it was generated in the original Arabic.
As the sun slowly settled down and the old town hall settled down in cool and shade, the ceremony was opened and chaired by Russel Raymond, a former ECC President and a key journalist of the WEST AUSTRALIAN’s Real Estate section.
The current president of ECC WA Ramdas Sankaran then spoke of the joy that his organization had in sponsoring the event as the first of a series of presenting artists, musicians, performers and writers from the ‘emerging’ countries of Africa, whose people were beginning to migrate to Australia as political and economic refugees, changing the people-scape of Perth from its original aboriginal and Anglo inhabitants in a definite and richly colorful way.
He made the valid point that Australia should not only seek skilled workers in the industrial and commercial fields but it would gain immeasurably by attracting artists who could enrich Australian culture in a multi-faceted way for Man does not live by bread alone.
He hoped Australia would provide a sanctuary for Afeif and his family, after the trials and tribulations of the prisons of Sudan, and selected the riveting poem ‘BOOK OF SCREAMS’ written in Australia and graphically telling of the continuing tragedy of Darfur. Of it he said, “ Its impact on me has grown not lessened on each occasion [ I have heard it read or read it myself].What reputable journalists have done in reams of print matter to convey the horrors of war, Afeif has managed to do better in one mind-blowing poem. I only wish that our trigger-happy macho leaders the world over would read this poem. Maybe then world peace would be a reality.
It was such a contribution to Australian and world culture that shows the worth of bringing distinguished artists into the country.
These remarks followed his introduction to West Australia’s new Minister for Multicultural Affairs Margaret Quirk and she now in turn commented on Afeif Abdelrazig new book beginning with ‘Missa al khair’ to honour Afeif’s contribution to Arabic poetry and welcoming the mixed audience. At the same time she acknowledged that the site of the ceremony was a traditional Noongar or aboriginal meeting place.
Succinctly she indicated Afeif’s many talents as poet, playwright and artist, as well as his commitment to sport and cross cultural activities in Sudan, with considerable strength as a human rights advocate, having suffered several periods of imprisonment for his opinions. She said that paradoxically Afeif had overridden his incarceration commenting,
“I felt that my poems were free like a bird; this prison has not been able to contain me or isolate me from my goals. The jailer is no longer effective’. He has expressed this beautifully in his poem THE PRISON.
She said that his poems had a deep layer of complexity, for they were both tumultuous yet calming, revealing yet gracious, subtle but deafening. He has intertwined his cultural journey with feelings of sadness, pain, despair, fate and hope. Australians may have a glimmer of these, but they are far deeper for refugees who have been robbed of their lands and forced to take refuge elsewhere. His poetry had a capacity to unite enemies, break silences, expose injustices and to empower the powerless.
Australians must be ever-vigilant to ensure that the rights of all people as individuals are not compromised. In Western Australia there were some 1500 Sudanese people, and 900 had come to Perth through the Humanitarian program since 2003. She agreed along with Afeif that ‘diversity creates dimension in our world.’
In conclusion she read from the poem EQUATION
The fanatics call him; heretic.
The independents call him; non-principled.
People of the left call him; dissident.
Himself;
He loves God’s face.
Bread
And Freedom.
And then gave her best wishes in Arabic ‘atamana lakuun masaan sayidan.’
Leading Perth poet and academic Professor Dennis Haskell gave a lengthy speech that indicated a rigorous reading of Afeif’s verse to try to pin down its elusive style. The first remarkable feature for the Professor was Afeif’s calmness about his prison experience.
“ I find this amazingly detached and unfussed showing no emotion or mention of his own martyrdom’. He isolates Afeif’s style as ‘quizzical and non-Romantic’ and the stance of an observer rather than a direct participant.
He felt that he could but echo the Minister’s comments in that;
“Afeif’s spirit can not be imprisoned. Freedom is in the spirit, and prison cannot contain this. This poetry is strong evidence that tyranny and savage dictatorial regimes cause enormous suffering, however they can never achieve their goals. His poetry is a testament that this kind of soul cannot be imprisoned.”
He went on to comment on Afeif’s epigrammatic style as in say:
People commit suicide
For trivial reasons
And for the same reasons
They commit living.
Finding this flip back of alternative meanings quite quirky much in the spirit of the great American poet Emily Dickinson and her request that the poet ‘should tell all of the truth.’ Afeif does this as in:
Erase all of us,
And leave the sun.
or even a quirky sense of humour as with :
The usurer mourned
Because he had lost a great client.
The irony has undertones of bitterness and ‘brain teasing’ as with the cryptic:
The Shadow of the Sword told
The Shadow of the Knight,
“I could
Kill you
Without blood!
which reads differently to the tone of English poems, prompting Professor Haskell to add,
‘It undeniably true and I will go on thinking about these things …well … forever, I suppose’
The qualities of Afeif’s poetry makes a unique and refreshing addition to future Australian poetry.
“From the moment of our first meeting, we have been friends!” asserted the next speaker Sheila Jessop Blundell Wignall, much in the spirit of Khalil Gibran who stated words to the effect ‘what is not known and revealed in that first moment of meeting; cannot be developed though you may spend a lifetime or eeven generations in pursuit of it.’ Though she had met many people of note, Afeif struck her above all for his integrity, his piercing insight, and his mastery of his art.
She echoed Professor Haskell’s remarks by remembering that Perth poet and musician Ross Bolleter had described Afeif’s poetry:
“The end of a poem always surprised, turning sometimes like a tiger, taking a new
direction, which startles the reader and prods one awake!”
Since their first meeting she has worked with Afeif on the preparation on her own first book GROWING PAINS, and feels that it would not have come to fruition without the inspiration of his persistence and dogged belief. Along with his vision that is shared with his wife Nyzak and Sheila is the dream and now formation of a literary group WINGS which is concerned with Cross Cultural Development. Membership is open to all at the most modest of costs.
Determined to help form solid relations between Afro-Arabic and Australian peoples, Sheila undertook to publish Afeif’s first book in English and hopes to go on with a multicultural publishing group SAMANTHA, named after a three legged cat for its optimism and obstinate courage that will be concerned with a program of international and multicultural books. She spoke of their shared pleasure in translation and sang the praises of the book’s chief translator Dr. Aida Seif Eldawla as rendering lively and penetrating cross cultural meaning.
She went on to explain the double meaning of the word “Bet” as the favorite activity of Australian wagering or betting, and alternately the clay that is formative of the earth with the potential of so many good things. The book then is a wager within the promise of Australian life and the development of an even richer and more diverse literature. Briefly she commented on the artwork of the book and indicated that recently Afeif had taken up graphic arts at TAFE and wished him well.
Afeif’s friend Abdulla Mustafa Adam, a poet and representing the Sudanese Australian Friendship Society began his speech telling the tale of King Timorlink and the poet Karmani, who contrary to everyone’s belief that he would evaluate the king in his own weight with diamonds in cowering flattery, gave an initial price of 25 dinars, which made Timorlink splutter that that was what his own belt was worth, and Karmani said he had thought of that but on reconsideration he was worth less than a cent.
Though no one knew the ultimate fault of Karmani, the Russian writer Maxim Gorky some 600 years later remembered him and praised his courage as an appeal to all poets and writers to challenge tyranny and oppression. To speak out – as injustice can only take place if good men and women say nothing.
Afeif has spoken out with his book a poetic vision, a journey through life that manipulates African images, tales and mythology to portray the suffering, the struggle, hope and aspiration of a poet and his nation. But, it also represents a strong protest against injustice, oppression and the multinationals and environmental degradation. In speaking out Afeif has been made to suffer bitterly.
From the poem DARKNESS, Adam quoted;
Martyrs
Gain nothing
Except
Their Death
And then went on to speak of the misuse of the concept of martyrdom that seemed to promise the quickest route to riches and eternal salvation for the most disadvantaged and the poorest members of society. The manipulation of this concept has led to a war that massacred over two million innocent men women and children in the Southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountians. It continues today with the same scenario for Darfur and Eastern Sudan.
Despite the compassion of his poetry, there are still people who would shout loudly at Afeif, “ Heretic … non-principled … dissident … you shall eat the …bread you love in Hell”. Adam further analysed from the poem BATTLE in which the shadow of the sword told the shadow of the knight, that it could kill him without blood, by means of harassment and misrepresentation confounding the democracy of the knight by the media and regulations and imprisonment so that finally victims would flee the country to seek asylum elsewhere.
Like the great Turkish poet, Nazim Hikmet, he said “Afeif has also struggled against tyranny, was imprisoned, wrote beautiful poems and is now living in exile.” Afeif clearly understands Hikmet when he declares:
If I do not burn – if you do not burn –
And if we do not burn together
Who is going to illuminate darkness.
Then, remembering the astronauts who saw the lights of Perth as they swept back to Earth, he opens his arms to say,
Welcome … Afeif .. . To the City of Lights.
Kumsa Bellew from the Catholic Migrant Resource Centre lightened the audience with his speech remembering that despite the usual happiness, nervousness and excitement of the incoming refugees his society met, Afeif had stood out with his calm tallness and sedate bearing while everyone was dancing, chattering and anxious around him. When Kumsa asked him why he was so calm, Afeif had said, “I was working on a poem, so it was my only concern.”
As another dimension to the evening music and songs were provided by the gifted young Jason Fisk, the extremely engaging French chanteuse Pascale Street, and the retired primary school principal and poet, Don Blundell – Wignall and his accompanist Betty Butterworth. The duet brought an old Australian feel to the reading with their rendition of the bush classic MY OLD BLACK BILLY and flourished the genuine article so that one could almost smell the gum leaves.
All in all a remarkable evening that augurs well for our multiculturalism and new directions in Australian Poetry!
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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Migraine
A Message to Friend Named Uwe
Swimming, I crossed the courtyard of the evenings woven with;
Cooing,
and mist.
Engrossed in my ritual at that coasted coffee,
Waiting for you
Dressed in nostalgia and yoans, asking after you
Moaning enfolding me like a robe with the ropes of extent.
A peal in my ear,
I realized that I am an echo of an out-cry lost in the streets;
peaking at a time;
fainting at a time;
But never abate
I knew for certain you were there.
It is time I stopped carving for the women who hungrily stood at the threshold of my life.
It is time I erased their eroticism from my recollection;
the resonance of their calling laughers from my ear.
It was time this persistent humming;
This bleeding in the pits of my brain heal to stop
It is time my body swung declaring the beginning of river in you
I have satisfied my thirst of you.
and my forgotten village even in the maps features.
Trees in my hearts;
grieves;
and an elbowroom for others;
innovations;
and life-making.
till the seventh day after the second million,
I shall not rest.
For all the tired faces, My heart is a depot.
" Chewing the biters days; and giving me the speech’s nectar;
It is time I mediate the globe and divided it into tow halves:
One for the probabilities of faces who are heading for certainty stops;
Other to accommodate your perfection form in between."
" You!
Who he is modeled from the gloomy of sadness;
from the snares of defeat;
and you, who, he clamours with weariness and splash drowsiness
For the first time, you smile and pass away.
Wearing the robe of your gloomy town, you walk.
swaggering morning costume
And disappear among the clouds of morning and emerse in you,"
As she puts her arms a round my waist, in order for the two positions to merge in the apple; in the conjunction of the two lips.
No one endwills my vacuum, but you both, and the nostalgia.
Do you know what happens when the river encounters the sea?
55
Ebbing and tiding, take off these diseases and;
waves impregnate banks and pursue post and;
a sailor exchanges his dreams and women at ports and;
Distant light signals at ports;
An exile;
and the question about you is an exile.
Breaking out and desirous, my glowing woman is raving.
“ you, who rose all anchor age and port
being a way from your wariness is an exile.
Who is the first who named the red as red?
May be yellow,
Or green;
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May the earth is the moon;
the rain is trees,
who is that who called me a female? and branded you with muclinty accusation
So, who is first
to call the red as red?
It is your blood jetting upon you like musk;
impossible with ambergris.
Without you, I could have not recognized land,
Unless the land had born your banks, we could have not recognized you.
Are you the sea?
Which sea shall I do?
The dead; or the red; or waves
I jump over the embankment crossing towards you?
Sleep darling until forenoon.
Don’t change the bed sheets.
For they contain residual of warmness and your bleeding diffused of fragrance.
Strong as it is, I obese it with all my bosses as a compass to your breath; and
57
your window
Wearing you, together we look on people as a couple in one; like yesterday night,
As you enjoy the addiction of moaning on my neck;
and
the delicious shivering; and whispers.
As a circular drowsiness sets in yours boses creeping;
….No;
Don’t sleep on my quarters;
In order to become a dream in my thought and hallucination in my subconscious …
I brought myself to gather out of my day’s disappointments; and croaking of desire in me since location,
Awaked by the rampage of the fierce cat tearing the night’s nabs with the busty seasons; chasing its female; and not satisfying her, it chases him; they are about collapse the house ceiling on me
…No
sleep
This desire has swallowed in my blood since my fathers has spilt me into the womb of my mothers.
Some contemporary one has said:
“ While you do not recall which of your father’s friends you resembled on your first day. This glitters in your eyes; the sorrow in your lips, and arise of laughers belong to your mother; and
your nose;
what a nose you have?
A fabulous projection on your face like the one of your neighbors of the gipsy origin.
This name does not belong to you.
It is the first name her heart throbbed to.
She has exchanged letters, handkerchiefs, tales, stories and pictorial magazines; and secretly shy looks and hasty kisses.
It was the world’s solution and the meeting honey;
They would never past; they thought. "
I did not see me.
I did not recognize me.
59
Some of the passers by remember my features before notice.
Goaless, they are passing,
Mummies hardness on their faces.
Their eyes are dead tin and lakes of duplicity.
How much is life expectation?
May over seventy in the first world; and after fifty in the second world.
We, the marginal dwellers increase our children by one every 10 months and ten days to complete all the deflects in oxidized cottages.
We don’t know, may thirty five years; and Caesar;
Most probably two months. ))
Thanks to the UNCIEF aid glucose bottles
Thank you, masters of the world for your kindness towards us.
I did see me.
60
When I know me; and
solve the riddle of my quarrel with me, with you;
I shall recompense you,
I shall invite all;
…..presidents;
…..sultans;
…….kings;
tyrants names of the earth;
by different names; and
power pretender and lovers to an important congress
I will conclude the invitation cards with a statement provocative of eagerness and attention:
“There surprise”
I wish no body would abstain.
All will come
All of you will come
I know your liking for cameras:
For treats
For talkativeness
I will place a bomb under each seat.
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No body will survive.
The one with Grey suit laughed until he lied on his back and shouted:
“ Well done! A thousand well done !” “ what a utopian idea;
“ will the vicious circle comes to an end with this means?
We could have made tons on anti-war pills.”
Was the beginning of the universe similar to the mind of a bat and a placenta of on ant?
As was it a past a revere vide of bullets files and fish and boats.
That river Oh, “Uwe”
Loaded with oils, toxicant fumes, and the chemical wastes coming from Hala and Lizbic factories.
The snow pads immersed into grease of dust and clotted.
In an evening summer, you angrily told me about it.
{ Why had they built the bridge, we could have passed without it.
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For the river is waterless
He, who gallops for an hour practicing his hobby beside the riever;
As if he has smoked eighty cigarettes in a stale air room.
He will need a resuscitation machine.
Our river quarrels with life and people }
"My body is a question and shiver,
Longing to women wove their hair with dewy daylights and took off their femininity “N” and their shouting skirts and settled for blue jeans and transparent blouse."
Oah!
My captured women,
Who are laden with the siege of blind serpent suppression?
Whose tail is at the first age.
A mid the eternity heritage;
his mouth wide open to the shy streets,
Shyness in his gaits;
Widening as the insatiable eyes of passers-by do, and sitters in the café’s; and
The halls of the imposing shops;
erotically, they jump for their soets;
Nude hips, drawn on this memory pupil;
Sanguine nipples.
They are not my women.
Tortured by men lust is that young girl, and
The frictions of public vehicles,
When I rendered her naked, she discovered that her body has the characteristics of magnet,
It was teeming and boiling up with, and never rest.
Your insatiable body gulps down the old bees of “Daso” and never got drunk.
Don’t wait for me,
for terminals have switched off their lights.
The solidarity you enjoy puts to shame our big Jesus Christ;
Moreover, who are tormented by the misty of, waiting and platforms, for the answer of the question?
The bells of St. “Toney” churches “ as you coddle him” left off their whinnying
Run …….
run ……..
69
in order not to miss the mass service
for the children chorus is now reciting “ Bach”
Don’t wait for me.
For all the terminals of friends have waved with a hand pierced by the wind
I know all them by the resemblance of their farewell sighs and the bleeding of a departure manifested in their eyes;
And your coast,
And so long.
I did not say good-bye to you.
Because I do not know how many leaves have dried of your age calendars, and fell down.
Don’t wait for you
Don’t wait for her
For that lonely star has dozed in her ash.
She might never wake up.
What is the eternity?
Scum
A tie of a promise with that who will bring the cloud later.
Only your blood which is fighting with you is a portent; and lightening and a signal of passion
I might like the women standing at the threshold of entrance after have denied access into.
And these uteruses kept difficulty pouring un-impregnated children every four week;
Before the procession of women abstinent until the they are above thirty five;
And they came back thirsty.
I love my woman for she exchanges curses and abuses with me.
When I take pride in the fertility of our tribe and then she shouted furiously
"To the waste dumb.
What medicated cotton factories produce is enough to shelter the displaced in bars and circuit tunnels.
“ That is the testimonial of yours veracity."
This universe is not mine
If it was not for my women, it would have been a dark tunnel and premature diseases,
It is not mine,
It is yours who adore false life.
I shall close my door before you
Give me a little of vigilance and carving after luxurious dreams
Take what is remaining due to you with me and don’t bother me
Leave alone on this earth.
Your frightened steps;
Are frantic drums exhausted my nerves
They alienated my moons of the serenity of my thoughts
Before exodus, walk base-footed
Put off the sun
And all light energy
Increase your invocation and the shasms,
proven and matured with fumes.
Until the earth’s absentees return from below and above,
Leave me in peace
To sleep
The migraine is cracking me into two halves.
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Re: صدور أول ديوان شعري باللغة الإنجليزية لشاعر سوداني في تاريخ غرب أستراليا (Re: elmahasy)
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الأخ المحسي ..
التهنئة الصادقة عبرك للشاعر عفيف إسماعيل على هذا الإصدر الرائع ..
ولك الشكر فقد أثلجت صدورنا بهذا الإنجاز المتفرد ..
وهكذا هم أبناء السودان كالغيث يخصب ويعشب حيثما حل ..
فبالأمس سعدنا بنبوغ الدكتور معز عمر بخيب ..
وقبل فترة وجيزة كان معرض الفنان المرهف بهنس "الرسم بخطوط الضو" ..
واليوم نفخر بديوان الشاعر عفيف إسماعيل ..
وبالتأكيد هنا الكثير من إبداعات أبناء هذا البلد الكريم في أقطار الأرض لم نعلم عنها ..
الشكر لك مرة أخرى وللشاعر عفيف إسماعيل ..
جاد
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elmahasy
wadalzain
معتصم الطاهر
ابو جهينة
سفيان بشير نابرى
Abdelfatah Saeed Arman
ibrahim barssi
Inaam Saad
Adil Osman
JAD
خالد العبيد
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست