Thanks to you, our supporters, this crowdfunder has reached its target!
We really appreciate all your support.
But we want to do more, so we are adding a stretch target for our campaign
If we can raise another £300 and get to 120% of our initial funding goal we would have the funds to record a dual language audio version of the poem.
The Somali poet Weedhsame and his poet translator Daljit Nagra will be together in the UK this October. This gives us a unique opportunity to make an audio recording of 'Catastrophe' featuring the voices of these two poets.
If we are successful and reach this stretch goal we will make the recorded poem available for free online for everyone to enjoy.
So if you haven’t joined in yet it's not too late, or if you have donated and you want to help us get the project to the next level this is your chance.
Even penny you donate helps us bring this awe inspiring poem to new audiences across the UK.
Read more about this awe inspiring poem below.
You are people who can succeed.
You are people who can build a home.
You are people in your own right.
Catastrophe is an electrifying poem by the Somali poet Xasan Daahir Weedhsame. A howl of anguish about the displacement of the Somali people, it offers a provocation to western Europe, unable to hold focus on the devastating refugee crisis playing out on our shores, and a message of hope to all who have had to flee their homes to seek sanctuary across the sea.
In October the Poetry Translation Centre will publish Catastrophe as a dual-language poem-poster, including a dazzling English translation by British poet Daljit Nagra and scholar Martin Orwin. The poster will also feature a specially commissioned illustration by the artist Bryan Talbot.
How can you help?
We want to get this poem into the hands of as many people as possible, particularly young people. Our translation and artist costs are supported by Arts Council England, our core funder, but we need your support to get this unique project to the printer!
Our initial target is £1,500 - this will enable us to print 500 copies. Every pound raised over this target will help us to reach more schools up and down the country with reading copies and classroom resources.
What rewards are we offering?
You can choose a perk by hovering over the descriptions on the right-hand side of this page. The simplest way to help is by pre-ordering your own copy of Catastrophe for £7 that we will post out to you on the day of publication. For £15 we are also offering invitations to our launch event in London, featuring Weedhsame and Daljit Nagra.
You can order a Somali poetry package for £50, which includes Catastrophe, two PTC chapbooks, a book on Somalia’s greatest living poet Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame Hadraawi, and a new collection (hot off the press!) by UK-based poet Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf. This is a great way to discover a rich, living poetic tradition.
Become a Poem Seeder for £100: get all these other benefits, plus we will provide a UK-based class or youth group with a set of Catastrophe poem-posters and reading resources on your behalf.
We will also be offering Bryan Talbot’s original artwork and sketches for pledges between £30 and £350. Bryan Talbot has been described as the ‘David Bowie of British Comics’ and his sticking artwork has appeared in 2000AD, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and in the Costa Award-winning Dotter Of Her Father’s Eyes. His next artwork could be hanging on your wall.
Why is this project so important?
Last year when images of the mass migration began to fill the UK news Weedhsame’s poem took on a new significance.
Catastrophe was written about the ‘Tahriib’ or sea migration, the search for a better life in another country. This perilous journey is familiar to most Somalis living in Europe, and its impact looms large in Somali Culture. Weedhsame’s poem has resonated with Somali audiences at home and in the diaspora, cementing his reputation as one of the finest poets of his generation.
By capturing this story, laying out both the human tragedies and great national cost of this mass migration, Catastrophe offers a vital new perspective to the ongoing refugee crisis.
This poem gives a voice to the nameless people we see in news reports about mass migration.
Getting this poem out to young people and a range of communities across the UK will help reawaken awareness of the biggest mass migration of people Europe has seen since the second World War.
Sounds good. Can you pull it off?
We need to get the word out far and wide to get this project to reach our funding goal. Much of this project is already secure: the poem itself and Daljit and Martin's translation is already complete, while Bryan is hard at work on the artwork.
Now we just need your help to get it to the printers and out into the world.
The Poetry Translation Centre has been translating poetry from around the world into English for over ten years. We have a solid track record of finding the most significant poets from across the globe. We work collaboratively with leading translators and the best UK poets to introduce these unheard voices to English-speaking audiences.
With this project, the biggest challenge we face is helping the poem find its audience. Working with Daljit Nagra, Martin Orwin and Bryan Talbot, all big names in their fields, will help us reach more people. We have strong ties with the Somali community and will be running events with the poets and Bryan Talbot in October to help get the word out.
What if we fall short of the target?
If we don’t reach our full funding target we will still be able to use your contribution to fund a smaller print run and hold workshops with Weedhsame when he visits the UK in October for Somali Week.
What else can I do to help?
Please donate if you can, and otherwise help us shout about this project on Twitter and Facebook. Tell your WhatsApp friends, share this story online and over coffee. Let the world know about:
- This urgent, poem telling the story of the Refugee Crisis from a new perspective
- Our big-name collaborators, including BBC Radio 4 poet in residence Daljit Nagra and Bryan Talbot, the ‘David Bowie of British Comics’
- The chance to bring this poem to classrooms and youth groups across the UK, broadening perspectives and sparking awareness
You can let us know about schools or other groups that might want to receive copies Catastrophe in October. Maybe you know of a library or community group that is celebrating Black History Month. Get in touch and let us know.
Thank you for reading about our project. Find out more about our work at poetrytranslation.org.
