The Mosaic Rooms is pleased to present a special evening of poetry with Golan Haji.

Golan Haji is a Syrian Kurdish poet and translator with a postgraduate degree in pathology. He was born in 1977 in Amouda, a Kurdish town in the north of Syria. He has translated, among others, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Scottish classic Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde into Arabic. His first collection of poetry in Arabic, Called in Darkness (2004), won the Al-Maghut prize in poetry. His second book of poetry, Someone Sees You as a Monster (2008), was published during the event celebrating Damascus as the Capital of culture in 2008. His next collection, My Cold Faraway Home, will be published shortly in Beirut. He lived in Damascus but fled in 2011 and has now settled in France. He has participated in many poetry festivals in Syria and all over the world.

Haji will be in conversation with Syrian actor Ammar Haj Ahmad. The talk will focus on the relationship between poetry and politics, and the act of translation, as well as reflections on how the ongoing events in Syria have affected Haji’s work and creative output. He has previously commented on his work: ‘ I think that poetry in general is a political act, anti-politics. When you write any poem, when you’re talking about anything, it’s a political act.’

There will be readings in both Arabic and English.

 FREE, rsvp@mosaicrooms.org

Don’t forget to check our screenings page for forthcoming films at The Mosaic Rooms.