Abdilatif Abdalla: Poet in Politics

HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN
KULTUR-, SOZIAL- UND BILDUNGSWISSENSCHAFTLICHE FAKULTÄT
INSTITUT FÜR ASIEN-UND AFRIKAWISSENSCHAFTEN
Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin • Unter den Linden 6 • D-10099 Berlin
Book Launch and Discussion,
Transdisciplinary ‘Afrika-Kolloquium’
20 January 2016
Abdilatif Abdalla: Poet in Politics
Abdilatif Abdalla, Hamburg
Rose Marie Beck, University of Leipzig (co-editor)
Kai Kresse, Columbia University, New York (co-editor)
Katrin Bromber, Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
Isabel Schröder & Lutz Diegner, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
The volume to be launched (Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota, 2016) is dedicated to the work of
Abdilatif Abdalla, who is one of Kenya's most well-known poets and also a committed political
activist. As a poet, Abdalla became famous in 1973, with the publication of Sauti ya Dhiki (Voice of
Agony), a collection of poems. This was written secretly on toilet paper in prison where he endured
three years of solitary confinement (1969-72) for circulating pamphlets against Jomo Kenyatta's
KANU government. In his pamphlet, Kenya: Twendapi?, he had criticized the regime as dictatorial
and called for political resistance. His other writings include lectures on the role of the poet in
society, editorial work on contemporary Swahili poets and collected historical poetry, as well as
translations, including Ayi Kwei Armah's novel The Beautiful One Are Not Yet Born. His poetry
epitomizes the ongoing currency of 'classic' form and language, while his work overall exemplifies
two-way mediation between 'traditional' and 'modern' perspectives, making old and new voices of
Swahili poetry and African literature accessible to a wider readership in East Africa, and beyond.
Abdalla has lived in exile since 1973, in Tanzania (until 1979), London (until 1995), and, until now,
in Germany. Abdilatif Abdalla: Poet in Politics includes commentary essays on aspects of his work
and life, through inter-weaving perspectives on poetry and politics (and language and history), by
East African writers and scholars of Swahili literature, including Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Said Khamis,
Ken Walibora, Ahmed Rajab, Mohamed Bakari, and Sheikh Abdilahi Nassir, among others. It also
includes reprints of Abdalla's lectures and of Kenya: Twendapi? The volume co-edited by Rose
Marie Beck and Kai Kresse is based on a conference on the occasion of his retirement as Swahili
Lecturer at the University of Leipzig.
Venue:
Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften,
Invalidenstraße 118, fourth floor, room 410
Time:
18.00 hours s.t.
Karibuni sana – you are most welcome!