With 13 verse and prose books, all of them translated into numerous languages, delving deeply into the human psyche, tackling offthebeatentrack subjects, the Egyptian poet Ahmed al-Shahawy has established himself as the most prominent contemporary Arab poet. Al Bawaba Egypt has met al-Shahawy in downtown Cairo, telling us about his future poetic activities, the roots and horizons of his poetic experience and his views on the relationship between art, society and religion. Tell us about your future poetic activities I have participated in multiple poetry festivals across the world. On Aug. 26, I will fly to Algeria for a poetry reading. In September, I will participate in a poetry festival in Kosovo, and in October, I will participate in two poetry readings as well as a round table discussion on contemporary poetry in the ‘Americas Poetry Festival of New York 2015'. Ahmed al-Shahawy is a poet on continuous travels, what is the significance of ‘place' for you? Where I write is an important factor in my creation. Since I was in my twenties, I have been traveling across the globe, particularly places off the beaten track. I have always been open to multiple cultures and civilizations. We have to get closer to foreign cultures to get benefits from their human experience without neglecting our great Arab heritage. We should travel, bearing our inquiries, searching for answers. During my travels, I get enough time for reading and contemplation. Sixty percent of my poetic production was written abroad, mostly at airports and hotels. I always carefully select my hotel rooms to enjoy an atmosphere enabling me to create. When being abroad, I liberate myself from all social pressures. I visit museums, art galleries and antiquities on a daily basis. For me, music and visual arts represent two significant branches of my poetic experience. How do you evaluate the relationship between Arabic and western poetic production? I believe in building bridges between cultures; however, I am not captivated by the western creation. I am delving in my Arab and Islamic heritage and culture. We produce good art, but we fail to attract the other to admire it. Our economic and political weaknesses have been reflected on our literary production as well. There are poets and novelists from small countries in the Caribbean who won the Nobel Prize like Derek Walcott and V. S. Naipaul as they write in English. We have to be proud of our culture and to deal with the western texts as branches to our creation not as masters. Your poems deeply delve into Arab and Islamic heritage, have your translated works overcome trans-cultural barriers? The poetic translation must reveal the poet's self, culture and civilization. When I read poetry in international festivals, foreign poets and audience expect to meet a poet coming from the Arab world reflecting his Arab and Islamic culture, not an imitator of the western civilization. The western receiver aspires to recognize another voice, not that of Walt Whitman or Ted Hughes, for instance. I had previously declined five French mistranslations for my works as they did not reflect the main soul of my poetry. Recently, I have signed a contract with the Turkey-based Kirmizi Publication House to get 13 books translated in Turkish by Mohamed Hakki Socin, one of Turkey's most influential writers and translators. What are the roots and horizons of the Quranic-poetic dialogue extensively manifested in your poetry as well as the religious and societal reflections of this dialogue? When I create a poem, I don't let myself subjected to internal or external censorship. Only the poet's heart and soul should lead him/her. This Quranic-poetic dialogue can be attributed to my "Sufi soul" and my religious upbringing. I was born to an al-Azhar scholar in the Mediterranean city of Damietta. The moment of writing is a moment of ‘illuminationism' that does not repeat much; my poems always reflect my poetic self. This dependence on the Holy Quran, prophetic Hadiths and Holy Hadiths has triggered a lot of criticism from religious institutions, accusing me of apostasy twice on the back of my poetry collection, "Recommendations on Women's Love (2003)". However, I am not concerned with the religious institutions' reactions towards creative production as creation should have no ceilings. I am not concerned whether my text will make a sheikh or priest angry. Quranic verses have multiple and sometimes contradicted interpretations which refutes the unilateral readings of texts. Al-Shahawy as a poet is only interested in inquiries as they give answers for ambiguity. We always admire western texts as they have eliminated such religious and societal censorship. Why don't poets in Egypt form a front to defend their rights against political and religious superintendence? The lack of a unified poetic movement in Egypt is lamentable. Poets have been under nasty attacks from the State, al-Azhar (the world's biggest Sunni institution) and extremist religious entities including the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood affiliates. Since 2003, I have been calling for a real unity for community of culture in Egypt. I was accused twice of apostasy while only few Arab and international voices backed my rights to freedom of expression. Later on, a string of Egyptian poets and intellectuals have been charged with the same accusations. They have been prevented from publishing and imprisoned. Poets' silence towards violations is a defeat; resistance is always needed to present a good model. Do you expect any positive support from readers in the Arab world? The cultural scene in Egypt and the Arab world never creates that sort of reader who may demonstrate to support a poet's right to free speech. You can find this support in Denmark, Norway or other western societies where creation cannot be harmed. We have not yet reached this rank. How did you depict the concepts of ‘love' and ‘death' that have been concurrent in your production? Love as a concept and a philosophical and existential base has been extensively present in all my books. Those who love are a minority in this world; the term ‘love' is the most articulated and the least achieved one. In fact, I well grasp ‘love' and ‘death'; the two terms have been equal for me. Both concepts live amongst us. I descend from a family that is surprising in death. I lost my mother, Nawal Issa when I was only four. Since then, I have been wandering in search for the woman. This also prompted me to get closer to illuminationist Sufis such as Ibn Arabi and Ibn al-Farid. My two daughters passed away in their thirties. For myself, I don't fear death; I only fear to die before I read all books in my library. Humans love to the limits of death and die to the limits of love as well. I can well depict ‘love' and ‘death' as I have experienced them. Why is the cooperation between generations absent in the Egyptian poetic scene? I am really sad for lack of cooperation between poetic generations in Egypt. Some poets abandoned their patriotic role towards their community after they had been granted scholarships overseas. We can say those poets have betrayed their nation. In the past, great Egyptian poets and novelists like Salah Abdel Sabour and Yussef al-Sibai gave non-limited support for young writers, despite ideological differences, to enrich creation in Egypt. When the late Abdel Sabour was the Head of Egypt's General Book Authority, he had never published a book for himself. He was always cooperative. I call on officials in commissions of poetry and publication to allow various viewpoints and ideologies to emerge and express themselves. What is necessary to be done to honor those great late artists? The whole world celebrates late distinguished poets. Next October, I will read poetry at the American poet Walt Whitman's house. I have repeatedly called for the establishment of a museum for the late poet Salah Abdel Sabour and other great artists. The museum is supposed to contain Abdel Sabour's creative production, particularly the manuscripts written in the late poet's hand writing, currently owned by poet Hassan Tawfik, who used to hold the post of Abdel Sabour's office manager. Abdel Sabour was the pioneer of modernity in Arab poetry and he was always at the forefront of the Egyptian poetic scene, giving a real model of patriotism.
