Eritrean poet Ribka Sibhatu and translator André Naffis-Sahely’s online tour brings them to the Ledbury Poetry Festival, who are offering a stripped back and focused set of free online events in lieu of their full programme this year.

The poet and translator pairing will be in conversation with Edward Doegar, the Poetry Translation Centre’s Commissioning Editor who worked with them on the PTC publication Aulò! Aulò! Aulò! The talk will offer a portrait of a long-running, fruitful collaboration between the poet and her translator. André has worked closely with Ribka for over 10 years, translating her poetry to bring it to the attention of English speaking audiences.

They will share a range of Ribka’s work, from her early taboo-busting lyric poems to her more recent political interventions, with Ribka reading in the languages she used to compose the poems- she writes in Tigrinya, Ahmaric and Italian - and André joining in with his English translations.

This year the Ledbury Poetry Festival Online will explore the many ways that poetry matters in these times, as a creative expression, offering an opportunity for reflection, insight, solace and inspiration, sparking conversation and speaking to culture and politics in the present moment.

Ribka Sibhatu's tour has been co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.