It has been another busy 6 months. As with my last roundup, my quiet is usually due to teaching (they said it’d quieten down after the first year… hmm) but here are some highlights. Most of this has been performance-heavy this past half-year. My Bio page includes a full list of all publications.

Manchester Multilingual City Poet

I continued in this role — performing in October alongside Jova Bagioli Reyes and Anjum Malik, we showcased some of our work each and translations of Jova’s stunning poem, about the streets’ memories… there’ll be more to say about this in the new year I expect.

Pear Project

At new Longsight Arts Centre, I was one of the resident artists for its inaugural Pear Project. My work included a narrative debate poem between a pear and an apple (audio only at present); and the translation of a praise poem for pears by the Mamluke-era Egyptian poet Dhafir al-Haddad. I also did intergenerational workshops with the community, and worked with local illumination artist Maryam Hussain to bring the praise poem to new life. This was a fantastic local project — a lot of the results are very ‘you had to be there’, physically present in the moment stuff. But as well as being on my instagram, it’ll find new homes in the future too.

Cabaret for Freedom

I performed my poem ‘In the Footsteps of my Forebears’, which is dedicated to my grandfather Hajji Saleh al-Qassab, who passed away this summer, in the Cabaret for Freedom this October past.

Your Choice: KS5

I’ve contributed a lesson for the PSHE textbook Your Choice by Harper Collins which is out now – if you’re an A-Level teacher, check it out. I speak about racism and orientalism in my chapter!

Time of Reflection

For the most part, I’ve been purposefully winding down a lot of activities to give myself a rest. If you look at my previous roundups, you can see just how much I’ve done in the 18 months previous. Capitalism would tell us that this past 6 months is a loss, you should neve slow down… And that’s foolish and stupid. There are some things that haven’t made it into the above – things that will bear fruit (though perhaps not pears) in 2023, so stay tuned. 🙂