Shahrazad - Stories for life

Judging by the catalogs from travel agents, Kenya is a safe destination that offers great holiday adventures. Philo Ikonya's latest collection of poetry, Aus dem Gefängnis - Liebesgesänge (Out of prison - Lovesongs) points out that this image is not the whole truth.

Ikonya raises several critical questions in Out of Prison - Love Songs. Why are those who criticize corruption locked up instead of those who pay and receive bribes? And why do women, who provide such creativity and hard labor to their country, not take part in socio-political decisions? 

Many of Philo Ikonya's poems were written while she was held in police cells, arrested for organizing peaceful demonstrations in the aftermath of the post-election violence of 2007. The poems were not born out of anger toward her country, but out of love for her home - for people who wish to live in dignity and freedom, people who do not need handcuffs, but love. 

The poems in Aus dem Gefängnis have been translated to German by Helmuth A. Niederle, and the book can be bought here .

Iraqi poet Manal Al Sheikh, who is currently the ICORN Guest Writer of Stavanger City of Refuge, has published two poetry collections this year. The poems were written partly before she had to leave Iraq, and partly after settling down in Stavanger.

One part of the poems of "Beln'kta Elhamra Tahta Ejnehe Eljosra" ("By The Red Dot Under His Left Eye") was written between 2006 and 2009 while Al Sheikh still lived in Iraq, first in Nineveh and later in Erbil. The other part of the collection was written after arriving in Norway. The poems tackle themes of love and passion, deprivation, melancholy, joy and loss. The collection was published in Beirut by Dar Ghao'n.  

The second collection, "Rsael La Taselo" ("Messages Never To Reach"), was written between 2005 and 2008, while Al Sheikh lived in Nineveh and Erbil, and travelled to Algeria and Syria. "Rsael La Taselo" was published in Amman by Dar Fadaat, and deals with themes of war and love in Iraq, partly based on Manal Al Sheikh's personal experiences.  

This spring, Gilles Dossou-Gouin's latest book "La liberté d'expression dans la tradition des peuples noirs" was published in Canada. Novelist, poet and human rights activist Dossou-Gouin is originally from Benin, and now a former ICORN Guest Writer of Molde City of Refuge. Before coming to Norway, he lived in exile in Senegal.

"The book focuses on a comparative analysis on freedom of expression between all black countries. It discusses the meaning of the right to free expression and the intersection between freedom of expression, tradition and other fundamental rights," says Dossou-Gouin.

The book can be purchased here.