For the first workshop in our ‘Translating Lewisham’ series, we will be exploring the work of emerging Palestinian poet Yahya Ashour with long-standing PTC translator Atef Alshaer. Yahya’s short, subtle poems deal with the reality of the conflict in Gaza, where he was born and grew up. Poet Helen Bowell will be facilitating.

There is no need to know the language being translated, just come along!

Yahya Ashour was born in Gaza in 1998. His debut collection, You are a window, they are clouds, was published in 2018. He studied Sociology and Psychology at the University of Al-Azhar in Gaza.

Atef Alshaer is a Senior Lecturer in Arabic Studies at the University of Westminster. He was educated at Birzeit University in Palestine and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he obtained his PhD and taught for a number of years. He is the author of several publications in the fields of language, literature and politics, including Poetry and Politics in the Modern Arab World, The Hizbullah Phenomenon: Politics and Communication (with Dina Matar and Lina Khatib), A Map of Absence: An Anthology of Palestinian Writing on the Nakba, Love and Poetry in the Middle East (editor) and Language and National Identity in Palestine: Representations of Power and Resistance in Gaza. Alshaer regularly contributes to academic and media outlets, including the BBC, Independent, I-Newspaper, Electronic Intifada, Radio Monocle, al-Arabi al-Jadid and Aljazeera. He also writes and translates poetry.

Helen Bowell is a London-based poet and co-director of Dead [Women] Poets Society. In 2020, she co-guest-edited an issue of Modern Poetry in Translation (focus on dead women poets). She is a Ledbury Poetry Critic, and an alumna of The Writing Squad, Roundhouse Poetry Collective, London Writers Awards and London Library Emerging Writers programme. Her debut pamphlet The Barman was published by Bad Betty Press in 2022. She works at The Poetry Society.

Social Prescribing

You can attend our Translating Lewisham workshops for free via Lewisham’s Social Prescribing service. Social prescribing helps to improve your well-being by connecting you to non-medical support in the community. To refer yourself or someone else to the service head over to the One Health Lewisham website and fill in a simple form.

Lewisham Borough of Culture

This project is supported by the Lewisham Borough of Culture scheme, a year-long programme of events that puts Lewisham and its community in the spotlight, focusing on the themes of diversity and climate change, encouraging locals and visitors to take action.

Season Pass

You can get a great value season pass giving you access to all eight workshops in our Translating Lewisham series at a lower price: £110.00 for general admission or £70.00 concession for students, the unwaged or Lewisham residents. The discount means you will be getting on workshop for free.

Get your season pass here.