Poetic Conscience: speaking truth to power

The air was filled with anticipation as people sipped glasses of wine while awaiting the poets to take the stage for tonight’s event – Poetry & Conscience. This popular, collaborative occasion was put together by Poet in the City, English PEN and Amnesty International to address issues of conscience and human rights. As Graham Henderson, Chief Executive of Poet in the City highlighted, poetry is the voice of ones conscience and well placed to speak or appeal to an individual’s moral compass.

As the evening commenced there was not an empty seat in the room except for one. A vacant chair remained alongside the poets throughout to remember and represent imprisoned writers across the world, as the placard on the seat stated, ‘every year hundreds of writers are silenced.’ This was an event to pay witness to the power of the pen, as Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, patron of Poet in the City who was leading this event asserted, the poets “speak truth to power.”

That’s exactly what Sifundo Msebele did as she took centre stage. Born in Zimbabwe she came to the UK as a child in 1980 during a period of political unrest. Her Ndebele name aptly means a beautiful lesson, and the poetry she performed achieved just that. Her opening piece was extremely powerful and moving, focusing on the incident of a gang rape and how to find peace in the aftermath of such a crime. Her words were full of expression and sentiment as the line “We will be free some day” resonated around the room. Playing on the word “A F R I C A N” she illustrates this freedom by repeating the word and emphasising “AFR-I-CAN.”

Based in Newham with a 15 year-old son, the next poem Sifundo performed was dedicated to him. Being tall for his age, already five foot ten inches by the age of thirteen, the poem is entitled "Stop and Search." This poem exposes the issue of racist policing in the UK. As a report by the Metropolitan Police Authority highlighted, black people are four times more likely to be stopped than white people. The poem reveals the underlying vulnerability of Sifundo as a mother unable to protect her son from the police regularly searching him and it raises awareness about an important issue, as the closing line speaks volumes, “the stares of strangers were as loud as the slamming of a police door.”

What is most memorable about Sifundo’s performance is her expertise at spoken word and interacting with the audience. In her final poem she involves everyone through teaching them Ndebele words and creating a call and response.

All the poets at this evening’s event brought their own unique style and poetic qualities. Abol Froushan, Iranian poet and photographer and previous Poet in Residence for the Outlook programme on BBC World Service, he read various pieces of his work. Many of these focused on the theme of censorship and poetic conscience. Abol asserts that poetic conscience is “where writing actually begins.” There remains a conflict of censorship internally and what’s imposed externally. He emphasizes that poetry must never become predictable, as this allows it to bypass censorship and speak in the face of opposition.

Moniza Alvi was the final poet to speak. Her masterful expertise of the poetic craft is her constant play with words, which makes her poems so memorable and thought provoking. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, to a British mother and Pakistani father, she was brought to England when she was only a few months old. Now a teacher and highly acclaimed writer, she has published six collections of poetry. Despite her award winning poetic skill she opens her talk by saying that “sometimes even when we do have freedom of speech it’s hard to find the words.” One of the poems she reads is about the plight of a young man from Pakistan. The poem is set in a car park in South West London, which is on the flight path of planes from Heathrow and where stowaways frequently meet their death. As she describes how the young man turns into a “block of ice” she asks the question what is it about him that sticks in the mind? The language and poignancy of this poem leaves extremely sombre and memorable images in ones conscience.

The other series of poems Moniza narrates were written around the time of the terrorist attacks in New York. These short poems are based on the concept of Rudyard Kipling fables. For instance, “How the world split in two” to illustrate the Muslim world and the rest of the world. “How the answers got their questions” when politicians at the time had lots of answers but did not ask many questions. The series of poems she retells are clever and playful and constantly challenge the listener and make them think. Her final closing poem is inspired by the horrific honour killing of Samaira Nazir that took place in Southall. The image left imprinted on ones mind is a living room with a statuesque mother, the brothers murdering their sister, and the cold absence of God.

This event is to remember those imprisoned for freedom of expression. Amnesty International is calling for people to take action for Iranian women by campaigning for equality. Please click here to read more about the campaign and how to take action.

Please add your comments and thoughts about the event.