World Poetry Day 2017
'Poetry – with its ancient history, its musicality, and its attention to symbol and metaphor – runs through all of us. Rooted in oral tradition, poetry is deeply connected to our collective humanity. And poetry is also a resilient and long-lasting political tool that has been used worldwide by dissident voices calling out for change. At PEN it’s impossible for us to celebrate World Poetry Day without also recognising that there are those for whom speaking out in verse has resulted in imprisonment. This year we are highlighting the cases of three such poets: Amanuel Asrat, Dareen Tatour, and Liu Xia. We urge you to take action today and to join us in appealing for justice for each of them. Details of how to speak out can be found below.
This World Poetry Day, PEN International is also honoured to share our Conversation with Enoh Meyomesse. Just two years ago Enoh Meyomesse was one of the poets for whom – on World Poetry Day – we urged you to take action. Now he has been released and lives in Germany where he continues to write poetry, full of characteristic refrains and inspired by his political surroundings. It brings us great joy to share with you his reflections on creativity, imprisonment, and the power of poetry.'
Jennifer Clement
President, PEN International
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Award-winning Eritrean poet, critic and editor-in-chief of the leading newspaper ዘመን (Zemen, The Times), Amanuel Asrat, was arrested at his home on the morning of 23 September 2001 amid a crackdown on state and private media. It is believed that he is being held without charge or trial. The limited information available suggests that Asrat was detained in Eiraeiro prison until the beginning of 2016 when he was allegedly transferred from the maximum-security prison to an undisclosed location along with other inmates, according to unverified information leaked in February 2016. PEN International believes that Asrat’s detention is an attempt by the Eritrean government to stifle critical voices, including calls for establishing constitutional government.
In September 2001, the Eritrean government embarked upon a campaign to silence its critics, arresting opposition politicians, students and many journalists. As part of this crackdown, Amanuel Asrat was arrested on 23 September 2001, along with nine other independent journalists, among them the editors of all privately-owned newspapers. Two other writers were subsequently arrested in October 2001.
The authorities have reportedly claimed that the journalists have been sent to carry out their national service and that the detentions were necessary for the preservation of national unity or due to the newspaper’s lack of compliance with media licenses. In April 2003, President Isaias Afewerki told Radio France Internationale (RFI) that the journalists listed as arrested or missing had been bribed by forces opposed to the government to cause division. He stated, ‘You cannot say a spy is a journalist…In the middle of the war we had to check them. We had to say enough is enough’. In a 2004 interview, President Afewerki commented that there had never been any independent media in Eritrea, only journalists in the pay of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Nevertheless, PEN International believes that these arrests have been used in order to silence criticism of the Eritrean government.
Fifteen years later, the situation of Asrat and the other prisoners is still unclear.
It is unknown whether charges have been brought against them and even if any trial has taken place. There are severe health concerns as the detainees are believed to have been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, including lack of access to medical care, as highlighted by the reported deaths of seven journalists in custody. Asrat is believed to be among the few surviving journalists; unconfirmed reports allege that only five of the twelve are still alive, but are in deteriorating health conditions. On 20 June 2016, in an interview with RFI, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Eritrea claimed that all of the journalists and politicians arrested in 2001 are alive and ‘in good hands’, though no proof has been provided by the Eritrean government nor any information as to the prisoner’s whereabouts. In the same interview, the foreign minister said that these men would be tried ‘when the government decides’.
Amanuel Asrat was featured for PEN’s 2015 Day of the Imprisoned Writer and 2016 World Poetry Day and received the 2016 Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression. For International Translation Day on 30 September 2015, PEN members from around the world translated ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War) into Afrikaans, Bangla, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, English, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Occitan,Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Tamazight and Tigrinya. Alongside Raif Badawi and Juan Carlos Argeñal Medina, Asrat also featured as an ‘Empty Chair’ in PEN International’s 81st Congress in Quebec City.
‘ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War)
Where two brothers pass each other
Where two brothers meet each other
Where two brothers conjoin
In the piazza of life and death
In the gulf of calamity and cultivation
In the valley of fear and peace
Something resounded.The ugliness of the thing of war
When its spring comes
When its ravaging echoes knock at your door
It is then that the scourge of war brews doom But…
You serve it willy-nilly
Unwillingly you keep it company
Still, for it to mute how hard you pray!- Translated by Tedros Abraham
Award-winning Eritrean poet, critic and editor-in-chief of the leading newspaper ዘመን (Zemen, The Times), Amanuel Asrat, was arrested at his home on the morning of 23 September 2001 amid a crackdown on state and private media. It is believed that he is being held without charge or trial. The limited information available suggests that Asrat was detained in Eiraeiro prison until the beginning of 2016 when he was allegedly transferred from the maximum-security prison to an undisclosed location along with other inmates, according to unverified information leaked in February 2016. PEN International believes that Asrat’s detention is an attempt by the Eritrean government to stifle critical voices, including calls for establishing constitutional government.
In September 2001, the Eritrean government embarked upon a campaign to silence its critics, arresting opposition politicians, students and many journalists. As part of this crackdown, Amanuel Asrat was arrested on 23 September 2001, along with nine other independent journalists, among them the editors of all privately-owned newspapers. Two other writers were subsequently arrested in October 2001.
The authorities have reportedly claimed that the journalists have been sent to carry out their national service and that the detentions were necessary for the preservation of national unity or due to the newspaper’s lack of compliance with media licenses. In April 2003, President Isaias Afewerki told Radio France Internationale (RFI) that the journalists listed as arrested or missing had been bribed by forces opposed to the government to cause division. He stated, ‘You cannot say a spy is a journalist…In the middle of the war we had to check them. We had to say enough is enough’. In a 2004 interview, President Afewerki commented that there had never been any independent media in Eritrea, only journalists in the pay of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Nevertheless, PEN International believes that these arrests have been used in order to silence criticism of the Eritrean government.
Fifteen years later, the situation of Asrat and the other prisoners is still unclear.
It is unknown whether charges have been brought against them and even if any trial has taken place. There are severe health concerns as the detainees are believed to have been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, including lack of access to medical care, as highlighted by the reported deaths of seven journalists in custody. Asrat is believed to be among the few surviving journalists; unconfirmed reports allege that only five of the twelve are still alive, but are in deteriorating health conditions. On 20 June 2016, in an interview with RFI, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Eritrea claimed that all of the journalists and politicians arrested in 2001 are alive and ‘in good hands’, though no proof has been provided by the Eritrean government nor any information as to the prisoner’s whereabouts. In the same interview, the foreign minister said that these men would be tried ‘when the government decides’.
Amanuel Asrat was featured for PEN’s 2015 Day of the Imprisoned Writer and 2016 World Poetry Day and received the 2016 Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression. For International Translation Day on 30 September 2015, PEN members from around the world translated ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War) into Afrikaans, Bangla, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, English, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Occitan,Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Tamazight and Tigrinya. Alongside Raif Badawi and Juan Carlos Argeñal Medina, Asrat also featured as an ‘Empty Chair’ in PEN International’s 81st Congress in Quebec City.
‘ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War)’
Where two brothers pass each other
Where two brothers meet each other
Where two brothers conjoin
In the piazza of life and death
In the gulf of calamity and cultivation
In the valley of fear and peace
Something resounded.The ugliness of the thing of war
When its spring comes
When its ravaging echoes knock at your door
It is then that the scourge of war brews doom
But…
You serve it willy-nilly
Unwillingly you keep it company
Still, for it to mute how hard you pray!- Translated by Tedros Abraham
Background:
Amanuel Asrat is credited for the Eritrean poetry resurgence of the early 2000s. Along with two friends, he created a literary club called ቍርሲ ቀዳም ኣብ ጠዓሞት (Saturday’s Supper) in 2001. This club set a precedent for the emergence of similar literary clubs in all major Eritrean towns. Asrat is also a well-known poet and songwriter. His writings dealt with subjects ranging from the daily life of the underprivileged to war and peace topics. His work provided a negative insight towards conflict, an uncommon approach among popular Eritrean wartime poetry.
His award-winning poem ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War) alluded to the then ongoing border dispute with neighbouring Ethiopia, describing the blood shed by two brothers. In the summer of 1999, the poem was awarded a prize by the National Holidays Coordinating Committee, run by the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, which organises official celebrations, commemorations and festivals around the country. The prize given is regarded as one of the most prestigious in Eritrea in terms of literary and artistic awards. The committee outlined the uniqueness of Asrat’s poem for standing sharply against war.
The newspaper ዘመን (Zemen, meaning The Times) where Asrat worked, had become the leading literary newspaper in the country and was run by a circle of critics who helped shape the cultural landscape of the country. His work in the newspaper was well-known as Asrat was the most popular art critic of his time in the country.
In September 2001, the Eritrean government embarked upon a campaign to silence its critics, arresting opposition politicians, students and many journalists. In May 2001, 15 dissident members of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (which is the current ruling party in Eritrean government) published an open letter where Afwerki’s abuse of power was denounced and presented his actions as “illegal and unconstitutional”. Following the publication of the letter as well as interviews and articles related to the open letter published in the independent newspapers, all dissidents were detained and private newspapers were banned. There is little official information of their whereabouts and well-being. Indeed, in a country where prison conditions are among the most severe – prisoners are regularly held in the desert in metal shipping containers or underground cells – there are grave concerns for their well-being. Eritrean detainees are systematically ill-treated and subjected to torture, for the purposes of punishment, interrogation and coercion. Since the closure of the independent press the government controls and runs all news outlets in the country through the Ministry of Information.
PEN International has long had serious concerns about the lack of freedom of opinion and expression and the continuing practice of incommunicado detention without trial of writers and journalists in Eritrea. Eritrea has become one of the world’s worst offenders for human rights abuses over the last decade, ranking fourth in terms of journalists imprisoned according to Committee to Protect Journalists – after Turkey, China and Egypt. PEN International is aware of at least 17 journalists currently held in circumstances amounting to enforced disappearance, some of whom are believed to have died in the appalling conditions of Eritrean prisons. Extensive censorship practices have also severely restricted literary, artistic and cultural production. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea concluded in its June 2016 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council that the Eritrean authorities were responsible for crimes against humanity committed in the 25 years since independence, including enslavement, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, rape, torture, and murder and that these crimes have been carried out ‘as part of a campaign to instill fear in, deter opposition from and ultimately to control the Eritrean civilian population’.
In response to these conditions, Eritrean journalists in exile set up PEN Eritrea in order to connect this inaccessible country and the outside world, and to campaign on behalf of the country’s imprisoned journalists, many of whom have been jailed for more than a decade without contact with their families.
Please send appeals:
Protesting the detention of poet and journalist Amanuel Asrat on politically motivated grounds and without known charges or trial since 2001;
Expressing concern for Asrat’s health as detainees are believed to have suffered ill treatment, probably torture and lack of access to medical care, as highlighted by the reported deaths of seven journalists;
Demanding that the fate of all detained journalists be immediately clarified by the Eritrean authorities and that those still alive should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Appeals to:
President: His Excellency, Isaias Afewerki, Office of the President, P.O.Box 257, Asmara, Eritrea Fax: + 2911 125123
Minister of Information: Hon. Yemane ebremeskel P.O. Box 242 Asmara, Eritrea +291 124 847 Twitter: @hawelti
Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Eritrea in your country if possible. Details of some Eritrean embassies can be found here.
Social Media
Suggested tweet:
Free #Eritrea Poet Amanuel Asrat held without charge for 15 years for politically motivated reasons #FreeAsrat #WPD2017 @pen_int {insert link to PEN action paper}
On #WPD2017 take action for poets imprisoned for exercising their right to #FOE {insert link to PEN action papers}
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Amanuel Asrat’s case;
Organise public events, press conferences or demonstrations;
Share information about Amanuel Asrat and your campaigning for him via social media.:
Amanuel Asrat is credited for the Eritrean poetry resurgence of the early 2000s. Along with two friends, he created a literary club called ቍርሲ ቀዳም ኣብ ጠዓሞት (Saturday’s Supper) in 2001. This club set a precedent for the emergence of similar literary clubs in all major Eritrean towns. Asrat is also a well-known poet and songwriter. His writings dealt with subjects ranging from the daily life of the underprivileged to war and peace topics. His work provided a negative insight towards conflict, an uncommon approach among popular Eritrean wartime poetry.
His award-winning poem ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War) alluded to the then ongoing border dispute with neighbouring Ethiopia, describing the blood shed by two brothers. In the summer of 1999, the poem was awarded a prize by the National Holidays Coordinating Committee, run by the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, which organises official celebrations, commemorations and festivals around the country. The prize given is regarded as one of the most prestigious in Eritrea in terms of literary and artistic awards. The committee outlined the uniqueness of Asrat’s poem for standing sharply against war.
The newspaper ዘመን (Zemen, meaning The Times) where Asrat worked, had become the leading literary newspaper in the country and was run by a circle of critics who helped shape the cultural landscape of the country. His work in the newspaper was well-known as Asrat was the most popular art critic of his time in the country.
In September 2001, the Eritrean government embarked upon a campaign to silence its critics, arresting opposition politicians, students and many journalists. In May 2001, 15 dissident members of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (which is the current ruling party in Eritrean government) published an open letter where Afwerki’s abuse of power was denounced and presented his actions as “illegal and unconstitutional”. Following the publication of the letter as well as interviews and articles related to the open letter published in the independent newspapers, all dissidents were detained and private newspapers were banned. There is little official information of their whereabouts and well-being. Indeed, in a country where prison conditions are among the most severe – prisoners are regularly held in the desert in metal shipping containers or underground cells – there are grave concerns for their well-being. Eritrean detainees are systematically ill-treated and subjected to torture, for the purposes of punishment, interrogation and coercion. Since the closure of the independent press the government controls and runs all news outlets in the country through the Ministry of Information.
PEN International has long had serious concerns about the lack of freedom of opinion and expression and the continuing practice of incommunicado detention without trial of writers and journalists in Eritrea. Eritrea has become one of the world’s worst offenders for human rights abuses over the last decade, ranking fourth in terms of journalists imprisoned according to Committee to Protect Journalists – after Turkey, China and Egypt. PEN International is aware of at least 17 journalists currently held in circumstances amounting to enforced disappearance, some of whom are believed to have died in the appalling conditions of Eritrean prisons. Extensive censorship practices have also severely restricted literary, artistic and cultural production. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea concluded in its June 2016 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council that the Eritrean authorities were responsible for crimes against humanity committed in the 25 years since independence, including enslavement, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, rape, torture, and murder and that these crimes have been carried out ‘as part of a campaign to instill fear in, deter opposition from and ultimately to control the Eritrean civilian population’.
In response to these conditions, Eritrean journalists in exile set up PEN Eritrea in order to connect this inaccessible country and the outside world, and to campaign on behalf of the country’s imprisoned journalists, many of whom have been jailed for more than a decade without contact with their families.
Please send appeals:
Protesting the detention of poet and journalist Amanuel Asrat on politically motivated grounds and without known charges or trial since 2001;
Expressing concern for Asrat’s health as detainees are believed to have suffered ill treatment, probably torture and lack of access to medical care, as highlighted by the reported deaths of seven journalists;
Demanding that the fate of all detained journalists be immediately clarified by the Eritrean authorities and that those still alive should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Appeals to:
President: His Excellency, Isaias Afewerki, Office of the President, P.O.Box 257, Asmara, Eritrea Fax: + 2911 125123
Minister of Information: Hon. Yemane ebremeskel P.O. Box 242 Asmara, Eritrea +291 124 847 Twitter: @hawelti
Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Eritrea in your country if possible. Details of some Eritrean embassies can be found here.
Social Media
Suggested tweet:
Free #Eritrea Poet Amanuel Asrat held without charge for 15 years for politically motivated reasons #FreeAsrat #WPD2017 @pen_int {insert link to PEN action paper}
On #WPD2017 take action for poets imprisoned for exercising their right to #FOE {insert link to PEN action papers}
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Amanuel Asrat’s case;
Organise public events, press conferences or demonstrations;
Share information about Amanuel Asrat and your campaigning for him via social media.
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Poet Dareen Tatour – a Palestinian citizen of Israel – is currently standing trial on charges of “support for a terrorist organisation” and several counts of incitement to violence in connection with her poetry and social media activity. After reviewing the charge sheet and the evidence against her, PEN has concluded that Dareen Tatour has been targeted for peaceful exercise of her right to free expression.
Tatour’s arrest at her home in Reineh, a small town near Nazareth, on 11 October 2015 came amidst a wave of violent attacks on Israeli citizens, and a corresponding crackdown by the Israeli authorities, which saw its officers given greater opportunity to open fire. She is currently under house arrest until the conclusion of her trial on charges of “support for a terrorist organisation” (under articles 4(b) + (g) of the Prevention of Terror Ordinance-1948) and several counts of incitement to violence (under article 144(d) 2 of the Penal Code-1977). The charges relate to a video, which Tatour posted on YouTube in which she recites one of her poems entitled, ‘Qawim ya sha’abi, qawimhum (Resist, my people, resist them).’ In the video, the poem is set to music against a backdrop of video footage of Palestinian resistance – as men throw rocks at the Israeli military. At the time of her arrest, the video had been viewed a mere 113 times, according to news sources.
Tatour also faces charges in connection with two Facebook posts. In the first, on 4 October, Tatour remarks upon an apparent call by Islamic Jihad – a banned terrorist organisation – to form a continuation of the intifada. She goes on to call for an intifada. The term intifada may broadly be understood as resistance. The second Facebook post to have aroused the suspicions of the authorities – dated 9 October 2015 – is a photograph of Isra’a Abed, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who was shot by security officers while carrying a knife in a train station. Tatour reports that she did not believe at the time that Isra’a Abed was in possession of a knife on the basis of the photograph. The image reportedly appeared alongside Tatour’s profile photo which said “I will be the next martyr,” in solidarity with others protesting the murder of 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir.
A hearing scheduled for 6 September 2016 was postponed after the translator declared a conflict of interest and withdrew, prolonging Tatour’s trial by a further two months. During subsequent hearings in November 2016, the court relaxed some of the requirements of her house arrest; while she still has no access to the internet, she is no longer required to wear and ankle monitor and is now able to leave the house to travel to work, however, she is required to be with a chaperone at all times. The next hearings are due to take place in March and April 2017 during which time witnesses for the defence will be heard, including an expert in translation from Arabic to Hebrew.
I interrogated my soul
during moments of doubt and distraction:
“What of your crime?”
Its meaning escapes me now.
I said the thing and
revealed my thoughts;
I wrote about the current injustice,
wishes in ink,
a poem I wrote…
The charge has worn my body,
from my toes to the top of my head,
for I am a poet in prison,
a poet in the land of art.
I am accused of words,
my pen the instrument.
Ink— blood of the heart— bears witness
and reads the charges.
Listen, my destiny, my life,
to what the judge said:
A poem stands accused,
my poem morphs into a crime.
In the land of freedom,
the artist’s fate is prison.- Excerpt from A Poet Behind Bars by Dareen Tatour, translated into English by Tariq al Haydar
- Written on:
November 2, 2015
Jelemeh Prison
Take Action – Share on Twitter, Facebook and other social media
Please send appeals to the Israeli authorities:
Urging them to release Dareen Tatour from house arrest immediately and unconditionally;
Calling on them to drop all charges against her as she is being held solely for her peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression.
Write to:
Minister of Justice: Ayelet Shaked, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street Jerusalem, 91010, Israel, Fax: +972 2 628 5438, Email: sar@justice.gov.il Salutation: Dear Minister
And copies to: Attorney General: Avichai Mendelbilt Ministry of Justice 29 Salah al-Din Street Jerusalem 91010, Israel Fax: +972 2 530 3367, Email: ishkat-yoetz@justice.gov.il
Please copy your appeals to the Embassy of Israel in your country. A list of embassies can be found here: http://www.allembassies.com/israeli_embassies.htm
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Dareen Tatour’s case;
Organise public events, press conferences, poetry readings or demonstrations;
Join the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee in translating her poetry, available in the original Arabic here and other languages here;
If you have not already done so, consider signing this petition for Tatour: https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/dareen/;
Solidarity
Consider adopting Dareen Tatour as an Honorary Member of your Centre. Details of how to campaign for honorary members may be found in the Writers in Prison Committee Handbook, available here.
Please let us know about your activities.
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Liu Xia, China, is a poet, artist, and founding member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre. She has been held in her Beijing apartment without access to phones, Internet, doctors of her choice, or visitors since her husband, imprisoned poet Liu Xiaobo, was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010.
There are reports that Liu Xia’s mental and physical health are suffering due to her detention. She is reportedly suffering from severe depression and in February 2017 a rare phone call made to a friend has raised particular concern for her current mental state.
PEN International believes that the ongoing, extra-judicial house arrest of Liu Xia is a form of punishment for the human rights work carried out by her husband, Liu Xiaobo, and is extremely concerned for her physical and psychological integrity.
One Bird after Another – by Liu Xia
We saw it
A little reflection left on the glass
It had been printed there for a long time without leaving…Every year on July 15 of the lunar calendar
The river would be covered with water lanterns But they could not call back your soul…The train heading for the concentration camp
Sobbingly ran over my body
But I could not hold your hand…- Translation by Yu Zhang
- Edited by Bonny CassidyTake Action
SEND APPEALS:
Send appeals to the Chinese authorities calling for the immediate and unconditional release from house arrest of the poet and artist Liu Xia, and calling for all restrictions on her freedom of movement to be lifted;
Calling for Liu Xia to be granted access to all necessary medical care;
Urging the authorities to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides for freedom of legitimate expression, and freedom of movement and reminding them that as a signatory to the ICCPR China is obliged to ‘refrain from acts that would defeat or undermine the treaty’s objective and purpose.’
Addresses
His Excellency Xi Jinping: President of the People’s Republic of China, State Council, Beijing 100032, P.R. China, Fax: +86 10 6238 1025
PEN strongly recommends that you also send or, if possible, personally deliver the appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it to the Chinese authorities and welcoming any comments – see below for guidance.
You may find it easier to write to the Chinese ambassador in your own country asking him or her to forward your appeal. Most embassies are obliged to forward such appeals to the relevant officials in the country. A letter or petition signed by an eminent member of your Centre may make it more likely for your appeal to be considered. Similarly if your appeal is published in your local press and copied to the Chinese ambassador, this too may have greater impact.
You can find the contact details of the Chinese embassy in your country here.
SOLIDARITY
Elect Liu Xia as an honorary member of your Centre and by doing so provide long- term support and advocacy for her and her family. For details of the International PEN Honorary Membership scheme, read the PEN WiPC Guide to Defending Writers Under Attack (Part V, pp 15-20). Please let us know if you do so and we will ensure that your Centre is networked with others working on the case.
Please let us know about your activities and send us a report about them by 21 April 2017 so that we can share them with other centres.
Conversation with Enoh Meyomesse
When and why did you start writing poetry?
I started writing poetry in 1971. One evening at home in Douala, Cameroon, when I was still in high school, my mother handed me Anthology of Black Poetry, a book from the family library. I discovered poetry through the writers of the literary movement of the ‘Negritude’, created by three poets: the Caribbean poet Aimé Césaire, the Senegalese poet Léopold Sédar Senghor, and the Guyanese poet Léon Gontran Damas. A poem in this book particularly marked me;
I thank you God for having created me Black
I am happy
Of the shape of my head
Made to carry the World,
Satisfied
Of the shape of my nose
Which must smell all the wind of the World,
Happy
Of the shape of my legs
Ready to run all the stages of the World.
The poem was written in 1956 by the most famous poet of Côte d’Ivoire, Bernard Dadier. At the annual school festival in 1971, I read two poems from this book during a cultural evening in front of all my peers. At the end of my reading the room applauded for a long time. I was very moved. I can say that my attraction to poetry really started that evening. The day after, I had begun awkwardly to sketch poems in my turn. Since then, I have not stopped.
You wrote some brilliant poetry whilst in prison. What did the process of writing those poems (and knowing that people were reading them) mean to you whilst you were inside?
The prison was a wonderful place of inspiration for me. First, when you are there, you discover life differently. Everyone abandons you for fear of being arrested. All that remains are the very close friends and family that visit you.
In prison, you are totally idle from morning to night. In order not to be bored, what can you do other than write if you like to do it? Fortunately, there was a library and a computer room in this prison. So I spent my days reading the few books I found in the library and writing on the sheets of paper brought to me by friends who visited me. When I’d finished writing a poem, I’d give it to a friend to get it out of the prison. One of these friends, Bergeline Domou, sent my poems to another friend in the United States, Patrice Nganang. And he translated them into English and made them circulate throughout the world. It is in this way that these poems have reached PEN. But I did not know that they were sent out of Cameroon. I was not aware of that. One day, Bergeline Domou visited me and brought me these poems already translated into English, printed and published in England. Frankly, when I discovered this book, I had tears in my eyes, so great was the emotion.
What is the focus of your creative writing now, and has the experience of writing poetry changed for you now you are no longer in prison?
Yes, I no longer write about prison; I moved on. Living in Germany, I found out about the suffering of the Germans during the war, and it’s inspired me to write many poems.
What would be your message for World Poetry Day?
Poetry is a formidable weapon hidden in the pen; it can deliver you, it can save you; it can change the people; it can open your eyes; it can open your ears; It can open your minds; it can make you discover that other people are also human beings worthy of consideration; it has the magic power to do this in just a few words ...
Yesterday was the International Day of Happiness. Can you recommend a poem that explores happiness or joy?
Yes, of course. This is one of mine.
In the near future
The gardens will bloom
You will leave your home
The clothes will become happy
You will go to kiss the sun
The corsages will replace the heavy sweaters
of winter
You will see it with your eyes
The skirts will replace the thick Jeans
It will be very beautiful
And the sandals will replace the hot shoes of that time when the cold
was biting biting biting biting biting cruelly the skin
And the toes will proclaim their freedom after long months embalmed
The cheerfulness will replace the gloom in the hearts
Spring is coming
You will go out of your house
Because love and joy
Will sing in the street