A Friend’s Kitchen emerges in the aftermath of Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi’s arrival to London in 2012, after a forced exile from Sudan, when he was separated from his wife and children for nearly five years. During late, uncertain nights awake in a strange city, he would write brief, mystical, often stream-of-consciousness texts to post on Facebook, his primary means of communication with loved ones in Khartoum. The midnight musings soon developed into poems.

In this episode, Al-Raddi reads from this collection, with reflections and translations from poets Bryar Bajalan and Shook.

More lectures, readings, and conversations from the Mosaic Rooms’ archive will be broadcast every month on Radio AlHara. Over the next few months, we’re digging through our recorded archives and sharing some of the voices that have echoed inside our rooms. As we step into a short pause and a moment of transformation, we want to celebrate all that has come before this next chapter. We stay connected on the airwaves.

Mixing by Justin Tam

Design by Rand Hamdallah

Music by Dirar Kalash

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