A Friend's Kitchen
Al-Raddi, Al-Saddiq More by this author...£9.00Paperback- Poetry
- Refugees & Displaced People
- Poetry Collections
- Poetry in Translation
- Exile
‘This is the sort of poet for whose work one wants to learn a language.’ Fiona Moore
‘One of the most revered poets currently writing in Arabic’ - Poetry London
translated by Bryar Bajalan & Shook
Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi is one of the leading African poets writing in Arabic today. Born in Khartoum, Sudan, he has lived in exile in London since 2012.
The poems in this World Poet Series book emerged in the aftermath of Al-Raddi’s arrival, when he was separated from his wife and children for nearly five years. During late, uncertain nights awake in a strange city, he would write brief, mystical, often stream-of-consciousness texts to post on Facebook, his primary means of communication with loved ones in Khartoum.
These texts grew over time into A Friend’s Kitchen, a profound collection that deals with both the spiritual incomprehensibility and physical reality of exile. It is rendered into English by the translator Bryar Bajalan working with Al-Raddi’s friend and fellow poet Shook.