Hi and welcome back to a new season of Wander. A massive thanks to the Arts Council of Ireland for funding this again. I’ve a fantastic lineup of poets this season from all kinds of backgrounds – Syria, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Rwanda, Burundi, Iran, and Afghanistan. But that’s for later. Before that I want to express my sadness and anger at what’s going...
My guests this week: Caleb, Wealth, Angel, Gregory, Daphne, Edwin, Diamond, Nicosha and Promise – some of the inspiring young people Raphael Olympio works as a youth mentor with the Cork Migrant Centre (who featured last episode). Many thanks again to the Arts Council who funded this particular workshop – and to Raphael and Fionnuala O’Connell of the Cork Migrant Centre. The aim...
‘To be sovereign is not to be subject to another’s authority, another’s desires or another’s gaze, but rather to be author of our own history.’ – Simone Leigh History is something that, for me, it’s very important, especially coming from a place that has been rooted in division. For me, history is what I have in memory, and therefore that memory is what I...
When I was a child, my mother always feared I would wander off. So she kept an eye on me, said Tisha, your feet are too rapid. Footprint too swift to sink in soft soil. She remembers how I made circles of her womb, how I would fall gracefully from the steep heels of our couch, jump from one arm to another, like goats skipping mountains. Said that I would dance unprovoked, like I was pricked by...
Every time I go home to visit my parents my eyes always wander to the family photos consisting of graduation ceremonies, communions, confirmations, and school photos. One photo in particular always stand out to me. It is a baby picture of me in a refugee camp in Tanzania. In that picture I am around two years old. The picture is placed in the middle of our mantelpiece. In that photo I am...
Tumaini (‘hope’ in Swahili) Festival is a unique refugee-led celebration of music, culture and solidarity in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi. Founded by Tresor Mpauni, who lived in the camp after being forced to leave the Democratic Republic of Congo, it uses arts and culture to build connections between refugees and the host community in Malawi. Beanca pic: courtesy of Tumaini Festival LISTEN on...
An exploration of Jewish Irish history and culture – from Deli 613, to the Irish Jewish Museum: historians, musicians and Jewish groups and individuals share different aspects of modern Jewish culture in Ireland. ‘Jews have been here since the time of the Normans. Jews are not strangers here, but they remain to be othered in a lot of ways. And that, to me, is very interesting. Why, after a...
\ \ ATHENS / / Created by participants during podcast workshops at the One Happy Family community centre, Athens – this piece on the theme of compassion. In English and Farsi.
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2022 saw the start of a groundbreaking regularisation scheme for thousands of people who’ve been living and working in Ireland for many years without papers. It came after ten years of campaigning by migrant communities working with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) in the ‘Justice for Undocumented’ campaign. ‘We know the life – it wasn’t easy,’ said Irene Jagoba. ‘We’re hoping...
Silence Would Be Treason are the last writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa from prison in Nigeria to an Irish nun in the run up to his execution in November 1995. Smuggled out of prison in bread baskets, they are the final testament of a man who gave everything he had in the struggle for social and ecological justice. As Ken Saro-Wiwa continues to inspire people and movements across decades and continents...