JUNE 2023

Did you know I finished four exams in one week and I still have 5 more in the next 12 days? And yet, that will not stop me from writing the poetic newsletter of the month. In fact, amidst such huge stress, poetry and reading are means of liberation and relief.

JUNE 2023

Interesting stuff:

• Who is Walid Daqqa? Beyond being the longest-serving Palestinian in Israeli jails, he’s a prolific writer and an excellent poet (even if he didn’t write a lot of poetry). Here’s a short story by him (he wrote the story then brought it to life, literally).

• Bullerengue, a traditional music genre from San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia (the first liberated African town in all of the Americas). Listen to J.Rincon’s interpretation, read Artel’s poem, and read this about the history of the city.

• Mohammed Al Maghout in English and Arabic.
• I watched this interview with The Synaptik, where he recites this poem by Amal Donkol.

• One of the most beautiful elegies ever written, this one by Miguel Hernandez (a Spanish revolutionary poet).
• If you ever want to buy me a book, this would be the one: The Lives and Deaths of Jubrail Dabdoub.
• Entropy journal released their journalistic platform last month, definitely worth checking it out, especially to watch the video about the killing of Mohammed Kiwan by the Israeli police (Allah Yerhamu).

• Last thing, I found a Mexican adaptation of Antigone, and a Pakistani adaptation (sort of).

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photo of the month:

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creative writing/prompts:

* write a poem with this repeated line “how many times have I’ve been told”

* a piece of a poem: A portrait of my Country

Here’s a man pointing at fig trees and cacti

Saying that his village used to be there.

And here’s a woman ululating the martyrdom of her son: if she cried he would not return.

Here’s a man hunched over his olive trees caring for them,

And there, there is a child running to hide and seek.

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Now that this poetic, brief respite has come to an end, I’m going back to studying pharmacology 🙂 wish me luck

lots of love,

Aicha