Orphaned Birds: Poems by Afeif Ismail

In this collection of poetry Afeif Ismail offers us a bird’s-eye view of the refugee experience, while helping us reflect upon how humanity could experience the world’s-eye presence of birds. The metaphorical image of orphaned birds, learning to fly anew in unfamiliar territory, resonates throughout these poems in many ways. It is applied directly to the challenges faced by refugees in a new homeland, as well as more broadly to illuminate the challenges facing humanity in transcending militarism and the destruction of nature. It is the gift of birds to combine both a strong connection to place and a sense of direction reaching far away over the horizon of what can be seen. Such a dynamic combination of local connection and global direction is what humanity needs to realise its full potential as custodian of the biosphere, by developing what the Russian scientist, Vladimir Vernadsky, called a “planetary perspective”. This global perspective is strongly present in these poems. Even when the subject of a poem seems to be a specific image, such as a hunted bird in the poem “A Tooth for a Tooth”, there is always a broader perspective speaking the same lines. Afeif Ismail was forced to leave his homeland of Sudan as a political refugee who stood up for human rights and freedom. He endured torture at the hands of the military dictatorship because of his role as a photographer who documented human rights abuses, and as a poet. While imprisoned, his mind was bursting with poems, which he wrote secretly on scraps of soap paper. Eventually, after protests from human rights activists within Sudan and abroad, his close relatives were allowed to visit him. As his mother left the visit with the precious scraps, Afeif says he “felt that now my poems were free like birds, prison had not been able to contain or isolate me”. Many of those poems were published in his book Bet of the Argil. The new poems in this collection were composed in Perth, where Afeif and his family have lived for seven years. The most recent poem, “Wings”, is typically multi-vocal, containing more than one image or voice. Its subject could be read variously as a caged bird, or as a political prisoner or detainee, or perhaps as humanity itself, trapped within its own cage. The moment of liberation is the same, when the subject flees the cage that separated it from other birds, other people, or nature. Liberation from a cage of isolation also features in a long, kaleidoscopic poem about a soulless meeting place in the centre of Perth, which is brought to life by a blind pianist who connects members of his audience with their souls. Connecting planetary perspectives across cultures and deepening our understanding of humanity’s potential are central themes of Afeif Ismail’s creative work. His poems challenge us to imagine and create a just and humane world, in which we can soar like birds far above the parochialism and prejudice towards others that still now remains prevalent. His voice speaks powerfully to us as a global citizen, exploring how we should feel as part of humanity and act as part of nature, while encouraging us to bridge cultural divides through mutual understanding, and helping us to expand our horizons through a journey of imagination. Dr. Roderic Pitty The University of Western Australia

Afeif Ismail is Poet and playwright , was born in Elhasahisa/Sudan in 1962 and arrived in Australia in 2003. He is an internationally published poet and playwright. His works has been translated into German, Swedish. Afeif has published many works of poetry in English Bet of the Argil, Mum! This World Lies to Us; Orphaned Birds and The African Magician, Son of the Nile and 3Seeds as playscripts. 2014: International Playwright Observer at 2014 New Visions/New Voices festival at Kennedy Centre for Arts, Washington DC. 2013: a short version of his play Unsuitable Hats was read at Write Local Play Global Shorts: Unexpected Connections, One Theatre World Conference, Cleveland Ohio, USA. 2013 : Afeif’s monologue Eureka was Selected for WLPG Sparks Linz, Austria- Catalysts for Discovery; at ASSITEJ International Meeting for the International Theatre Festival SCHÄXPIR, Linz, Austria. 2012: Afeif invited to present on cross-cultural collaboration at the International Forum on TYA, New York University. The Forum is titled “Which Way TYA? Future Directions in Theatre for Young Audiences”. 2012: Afeif’s Play for children Son of the Nile performed at Murdoch University. 2010: His play The African Magician commissioned and produced by Barking Gecko Theatre Company and nominated for the Australian Writers Guild award for best children’s play in 2011. 2010 Poets without Prodders Festival New Castle Australia, 2009: he was a recipient of an inaugural Western Australian Theatre Development Initiative for his play “The Shrouds or the Dead.” 2009 Overload Poetry Festival Melbourne, Australia. 2008: Afeif was selected to workshop this play, with co-transcreator Vivienne Glance, at Playwriting Australia’s Canberra Workshop. 2008: Afeif was awarded the inaugural Australian National Playwrights’ Conference (ANPC) Bursary. Afeif’s plays (in Arabic) have been produced in many cities, towns and villages in Sudan including Khartoum, from 1986 to 2000. These have included “The Merchant”, “Starvation” and “The Centre of the Circle”.