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Kurdish poet Nazand Begikhani reads
acclaimed work in UK parliament
15.5.2007
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May 15, 2007
London, UK,-- The tragedy of the Anfal
genocide was brought alive at Britain’s Houses of
Parliament on Monday through a poetry reading by
Kurdish writer Nazand Begikhani.
Ms Begikhani, whose family suffered in the Anfal
genocide campaign by Saddam Hussein in the late
1980s, read poems from her acclaimed collection of
work in English, Bells of Speech. The poetry reading
took place as the trial of Ali Hassan Al Majid,
known as Chemical Ali, continues in Baghdad.
The poems, about loss and survival, were recited at
a reading jointly hosted by British MP Ann Clwyd,
Tony Blair’s special envoy to Iraq on human rights,
and Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan Regional
Government High Representative to the UK. Officials
from the US, Turkish and Cyprus embassies and from
the UK government also attended.
Bells of Speech, published by Ambit Books, has been
well received in the UK. Two poems from the
collection have been selected for anthologies of
English poetry, including Inspired Verse by Wyndham
Thomas, and a collection of literary works by
refugees to be edited by Jenni William at the
University of Swansea. |
Nazand Begikhani in the UK parliament |
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Sister Wendy Beckett, a well known UK art critic who
selected the poem Voice for Inspired Verse, writes
in her introduction to the anthology, “Nazand
Begikhani has lost father and brothers to racial
hatred. She is a genocide survivor who devotes
herself the seeking justice for the Kurdish people
and all who are persecuted. She believes happiness
is our right, and sings of it with wistful
certainty.”
Ms Clwyd, who has long been a friend of Kurdistan
and an advocate of human rights in Iraq, said,
“Nazand’s poems vividly illustrate the experience of
the Kurdish people, and particularly Kurdish women,
over recent decades.”
Ms Begikhani was presented with a plaque on behalf
of Chnar Saad, the Kurdistan Region’s Minister for
Martyrs and Anfal Affairs. Ms Abdul Rahman, who made
the presentation, said, “The genocidal Anfal
campaign took place 20 years ago but the people of
Kurdistan live with the appalling health and
environmental consequences to this day.”
She added, “Nazand’s work is significant not only as
poetry in its own right but also as a way of telling
the world about the Anfal.”
Hide and Seek in Bergalu *
A fresh summer morning
on the lower slopes of Bergalu village
two children played hide and seek
women planted trees in their garden
When a warplane roared in
rushed us face-down to the ground
After four heavy circles
and a shower of shells
a thick line of smoke
billowed from the land
Eighteen years on
on the lower slopes of a village
an old woman can be seen
circling around an empty hole
chasing the shadow of two children
playing hide and seek in Bergalu
* Based on a true story. From Bells of Speech by
Nazand Begikhani, published by Ambit Books.
krg org
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