Sunday 7 August 2022, 2pm
A reading by, Alireza Abiz, Sascha Akhtar, José Buera, Ulli Freer & Sophie Seita.
Alireza Abiz is an Iranian poet, literary scholar, and translator. He has written extensively on Persian contemporary literature and culture. His book Censorship of Literature in Post-Revolutionary Iran: Politics and Culture since 1979 was published by Bloomsbury in 2020. He has published five collections of poetry in Persian, including London Underground (winner of the 2018 Shamlou Poetry Award) and has translated the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Basil Bunting, Derek Walcott, Allen Ginsberg, C.K. Williams and others into Persian. A selection of his poetry in English translation titled ‘The Kindly Interrogator’ was published by Shearsman in 2021.
Sascha Akhtar has crafted six metaphysical poetry collections, a short story collection Of Necessity And Wanting embracing social realism and a book of the first time translations of Hijab Imtiazs' little known manuscript Adab-E-Zareen upcoming in 2022 with Oxford University Press. Akhtar is a Poetry School tutor and lecturer at the University of Greenwich. She performs internationally, some highlights include the Emirates Festival of Literature 2022 and Rotterdam Poetry Festival 2012. Latest writings appear in the Prototype Annual 4, Cut-Purse (Tangerine Press, 2022) and Of Myths and Mothers anthology 2022.
José Buera is a Caribbean and Latinx poet from the Dominican Republic and residing in London. While minoring in creative writing at Berkeley, he performed and published poetry in California in the mid-90s before taking a 25-year break for a career in development finance. José has recently begun writing and performing again in both English and Spanish reflecting his interests on anthropology, atypical psychology, Caribbean identity, and psychedelics. When not in London, José is found cooking with indigenous tribes around the world documenting and sharing their traditions on his online adventure cooking show Wild Kitchens.
Ulli Freer is a London-based poet/performer & occasional publisher. He is also a member of Veer Books. His work has been published in many magazines including, Datableeds. Splinter. Blackbox Manifold. Erotoplasty 7. His recently published books include, No Title 1. (Rot Direkt London). Recovery. (Veer books London). No Title. (Gang London). Towards Infinity, in collaboration with Paul Buck. (RD. London). Poems have also appeared in a number of Anthologies, matieres d’Angleterre (Trois Cailloux. Amiens France). Other (Wesleyan University Press, Hanover & London). Vanishing Points. (Salt. Cambridge). Wretched Strangers. (UEA Publishing Project).
Sophie Seita is an artist and researcher whose work swims in the muddy waters of language, and explores materiality, gesture, and the speculative potential of the archive. She regularly performs and shows work across multiple media, publishes books, makes textiles and graphic scores, leads experimental workshops around voice, touch, translation, and queer performance, and is a Lecturer in the Art Department at Goldsmiths. Recent and current projects include: an exhibition at Mimosa House, performances and events at Nottingham Contemporary, Matt’s Gallery, Café Oto, the Royal College of Art, Independent Dance, Index (Stockholm), UP Projects, Forma HQ/Presse Books, and community engagement projects at Grand Union (Birmingham), Creative Darlington, Curious Arts (Newcastle), and Ruta del Castor (Mexico City). She’s received grants and awards from Arts Council England, the Canada Council, British Council, DAAD, Creative Scotland, amongst others. She’s recently been an artist in residence at Britten Pears Arts, Freie Universität Berlin, and Brown University, and currently holds the 2023/2024 Werner Düttmann Fellowship at the Akademie der Künste (Academy of the Arts), Berlin. www.sophieseita.com
