Joshua L. Freeman
@jlfreeman6
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Chinese cultural history & Uyghur literature at 中央研究院 • Translator, Waiting to Be Arrested at Night @penguinpress • Words @nytimes @TheAtlantic @nybooks @TheTLS
Academia Sinica (Taipei)
Joined April 2020
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Pinned Tweet
Thank you to the National Book Critics Circle for shining a light on the crisis in the Uyghur homeland; on
@TahirIzgil
's work as an author & advocate; and on literature in translation. It was an honor translating Tahir's memoir and I am so moved to see it receive this recognition
The NBCC John Leonard Prize for Best First Book goes to “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night” by Tahir Hamut Izgil (
@TahirIzgil
), translated by Joshua L. Freeman (
@jlfreeman6
)!
@penguinpress
#NBCCAwards
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This powerful image is made from the names of Uyghur writers, poets, and intellectuals who have disappeared into China's internment camps for Muslims. I know so many people on this list. I think of them every day.
Please RT. Spread the word in any way you can.
#Uyghur
1. Ilham Tohti
2. Rahile Dawut
3. Halmurat Ghopur
4. Tashpolat Teyip
5. Chimengul Awut
6. Arslan Abdulla
7. Dilmurat Ghopur
8. Jemile Saqi
9. Abdukerim Rahman
10. Abduqadir Jalalidin
11. Zulpiqar Barat
12. Alim Ehet
13. Nurbiye Yadikar
14. Mutellip Sidiq Qahiri
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My friend and colleague Rahile Dawut, an eminent anthropologist and a lovely human being, has been sentenced to life in prison.
The Chinese government says Rahile is guilty of "splittism." The truth, though, is that her only crime was being born a
#Uyghur
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Today marks three years since my friend and colleague Rahile Dawut disappeared into China's internment camps.
Her only crime: being born a
#Uyghur
.
Rahile is a highly respected scholar of Uyghur religious traditions and oral literature. She is also a lovely human being.
1/5
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#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil watched as his friends disappeared into China's camps. He knew his turn would come soon.
Then he escaped. Now, in this searing, powerful, beautifully written memoir, Tahir shares his story with the world.
My translation out Aug 1 fr
@penguinpress
.
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To understand the tragedy in the
#Uyghur
homeland, consider what homeland means to Uyghurs.
This poem by the great Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed is a powerful expression of love and anguish for a threatened homeland.
Recited by Mukaddas Mijit; produced by
@teklimakan
; translated by me
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#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil watched as his friends and neighbors disappeared into China's internment camps.
He knew his turn would come soon.
Then he escaped.
Now, read Izgil's memoir of the crisis, translated and introduced by me for
@TheAtlantic
.
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Can we talk abt the fact that Liu Cixin supports internment camps for minorities?In an interview last yr w
@JiayangFan
, Liu defended the internment of Uyghurs:
“If anything, the government is helping their economy and trying to lift them out of poverty.”
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I could go on about Rahile's achievements and everything else. But really, I shouldn't have to. Really, it should be enough to say that no person should be sent to an internment camp on the basis of their ethnicity.
It's been 3 years. That's 3 years too many.
#FreeRahile
Pls RT
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In 2012, the Chinese government celebrated Mo Yan, the 1st Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize in literature.
In 2017, it threw his
#Uyghur
translator, poet Abduqadir Jüme, in an internment camp. He's still there.
Who's Abduqadir Jüme? Start with one of his poems (video):
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7 years ago today,
#Uyghur
economist Ilham Tohti was sentenced by China to life in prison.
His crime: advocating equality for Uyghurs.
Last year I translated some of Ilham's powerful words. Take the time to read them. We can all learn from his courage & vision.
Please RT.
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Rahile was taken away in December 2017. We still have no news of her.
The word
#Uyghur
should stay in the headlines even after these Olympics come to an end.
In the meantime, please share Rahile's story.
#FreeRahile
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مۇبارەك بولسۇن، جوۋ. ئەمدى دېگەن گەپلىرىڭىزنى ئۇنتۇپ قالماڭ.
Congratulations, Joe. Now please don't forget what you said below.
#Uyghur
China’s continuing oppression of its own people, especially the abuse and internment of more than one million Uyghurs, is one of the worst human rights crises in the world today. It can’t be ignored. Human rights must be at the core—not periphery—of our engagement in the world.
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I can't stop thinking of the numerous students Rahile mentored, the groundbreaking work she did in documenting Uyghur religious life and oral literature, and the generosity and good humor she always showed to every person she met. Everyone should know her name. Please retweet.
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It's the 51st bday of
#Uyghur
scholar Ilham Tohti. He’s spending it in prison, where he’s been serving a life sentence since 2014. His crime: advocating equality for Uyghurs in China.
I listened to some old interviews w Ilham & translated a few of his powerful words. Pls RT
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On International Translation Day, honor the
#Uyghur
translators in China's internment camps.
In 2012, the Chinese government celebrated Mo Yan, the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize in literature.
In 2017, it threw his Uyghur translator, poet Abduqadir Jüme, in a camp.
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I've known Rahile many years. I worked for her as a translator & we spent many hours discussing everything under the sun.
I learned so much from her. I consider her a good friend. She was one of my recommenders for grad school.
And now she's gone. Her crime—being born a Uyghur.
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Hear Tahir Hamut Izgil, one of the greatest living
#Uyghur
poets, read the deeply moving poem he wrote for his daughter Aséna.
This video was created by the talented photojournalist
@YujingHuangtw
for her project, , and is subtitled with my translation.
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Welcome to Twitter, Mr. Liu! Before Netflix makes your books into a TV series, maybe you can tell us more about why you support the imprisonment of over a million
#Uyghurs
in internment camps, as you expressed in an interview w/
@JiayangFan
(see quote & link @ end of thread)
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It is a great honor as an author to see this unique sci-fi concept travel and gain fandom across the globe and I am excited for new and existing fans all over the world to discover the story on Netflix.
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Perfect
#Uyghur
poem for today.
CODA TO THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
Ekhmetjan Osman
tr J Freeman
Enough, Scheherazade, that’s plenty of tales,
I want to leave this endless fright.
Give me one single sunlit day
over a thousand and one long nights.
_________
Calligraphy by Efvan
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Powerful essay in
@nytimes
today by leading
#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil, translated by me.
"The defense of Uyghurs’ human rights is the defense of human rights everywhere. If repression can be contagious, so can justice." —
@TahirIzgil
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In January 2017, the Chinese government-run journal Xinjiang Women honored Rahile by putting her on its cover.
In December of that year, the same government threw Rahile in an internment camp.
Three years have now passed. No charges, no date of release, no news. Just gone.
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Folks who read
#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil's powerful memoir in
@TheAtlantic
yesterday may want to check out Izgil's equally powerful poetry.
Here's a quick thread with some of my translations of his work.
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Rahile is a renowned anthropologist, specializing in Uyghur religious traditions and oral literature.
Respected in China and internationally, she has lectured at Harvard and Cornell.
She is also one of the warmest, funniest, most generous people I know.
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3 years ago,
#Uyghur
translator and poet Abduqadir Jüme disappeared into China’s internment camp system for Muslims. His translations include the Uyghur edition of Nobel laureate Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum—book cover below, along w a translation of one of Abduqadir’s poems. Pls RT. 1/4
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China sent my friend Abduqadir Jalalidin to an internment camp for the crime of being
#Uyghur
.
He kept writing poetry. One of his poems reached me.
Now, the band Efsane has made that poem into a powerful music video, subtitled with my translation.
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The eminent
#Uyghur
historian Shérip Khushtar has passed away at the age of 100. He was a remarkable man who lived through many of the events he chronicled.
I've learned so much from his work over the years, but what I will cherish most is the memory of meeting him in person. 1/
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Rahile Dawut has done more than perhaps any other person to archive Uyghur oral literature.
She is a leading scholar of shrine pilgrimage among the Uyghurs.
She is a beloved mentor to a generation of Uyghur students, many of whom have gone on to their own scholarly careers
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On the 32nd anniversary of the
#Tiananmen
massacre, here's my translation of "The Protest" by
#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil.
Izgil was a leader of the 1989 student movement at Central Nationalities Institute in Beijing. Today he is a leading voice of the Uyghur people in exile.
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I've spent countless hours in conversation with Rahile, worked for her as a translator, and consider her a good friend. I've learned more from her than I could recount.
Rahile is a warm, kind, generous person with a terrific sense of humor and off-the-charts people skills.
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In
#Uyghur
culture, poetry is part of everyday life.
This week, I'm posting handwritten poems from the Uyghur diaspora + my translations.
Anthropologist Muqeddes Muxter sent me this poem of longing for the homeland she has not seen in more than three years. My translation below
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#Uyghur
contains some of the world's great love poetry. This one is short but sweet:
A WILD FEELING
Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed
tr. Joshua Freeman
As fire burns in fire
as water drowns in water
as soil sinks into soil and disappears
I yearn to go within you and disappear completely
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Poet Abide Abbas Nesrin, born '92 in China's
#Uyghur
region, went abroad for college to Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar. 3 yrs ago, as Egypt began deporting Uyghurs to certain detention in China, she left for Turkey, where she now lives. Below, a translation of one of her poems(1/2)
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From today's
@nytimes
. Thanks again to
@nytmay
for this outstanding profile of leading
#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil. It's been a privilege translating
@TahirIzgil
's poetry & memoir, and it's so good to see how his work is raising awareness of the crisis in the Uyghur homeland.
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As the Chinese state works to erase
#Uyghur
culture, the Uyghur diaspora is keeping it alive. Abide Abbas Nesrin, for 3 years now a refugee in Turkey, is about to publish a volume of her poetry. Here's my translation of a poem from that volume, entitled, simply, “I Love You.” 1/2
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In
#Uyghur
culture, poetry is part of everyday life. My friend Muqeddes Muxter just sent me this brief poem of longing for the homeland she has not seen for three years now. (tr JLF)
I am a drop of rain
longing to fall
and dry up
in the Taklamakan
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As China tries to wipe out
#Uyghur
culture, the Uyghur diaspora is working to ensure its survival.
Important article by
@YasmeenSerhan
incl interviews w/
@HamutTahir
,
@MahmutRahima
, Mukaddas Mijit,
@Omerkanat1
,
@AndersonEliseM
,
@Hendan_Hiyal
, me & others
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Rahile has been a mentor for a generation of Uyghur graduate students.
Her students revere her. Many have gone on to academic careers of their own.
Rahile is famous in the Uyghur region. People know her, and they're proud of her.
Yet she's completely humble about it all.
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On International Translation Day, honor the
#Uyghur
translators in China's internment camps.
Shahip Abdusalam Nurbeg is the editor of Burning Wheat, an anthology of Uyghur poetry in Chinese translation.
He was sent to the camps in 2017. He has not been heard from since.
Pls RT
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A
#Uyghur
poet on his hometown, torn down a decade ago by the Chinese state:
"Kashgar—the moment between eyebrow and eyelash,
paper stuck to the face of the sun, eternal black ink,
a festering old wound, pathetic love."
—Tahir Hamut Izgil (tr J Freeman)
Photo: Edith Roux, 2011
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Always amazed how much emotion
#Uyghur
poet Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed could fit into a few lines.
————
Sometimes
you are an enemy
and I call your name in rage.
You are a shackle
and I think of breaking free.
You are a homeland
and even in your arms
I weep in longing for you.
tr JLF
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Want to learn more about
#Uyghur
culture? This anthology by
@TheTarimNetwork
is a great place to start. Poetry, prose, and some amazing visual art by individuals across the Uyghur diaspora. Read it for free online:
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From
#Uyghur
poet Hendan's devastating poem "Back into the Flames"
————
Don’t think of crying if the news says I have died.
Instead, say that I’m free now
from cold
from hunger
from thirst
from the hardship of identity.
Take one rock from your heart,
grow lighter.
tr J Freeman
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#Uyghur
poet Tahir Hamut Izgil's memoir is one of the most powerful documents of the ongoing catastrophe in the Uyghur region.
If you missed it this summer,
@TheAtlantic
has now made
@HamutTahir
's piece (translated+introduced by me) available w no paywall
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Every day this week, I've featured a
#Uyghur
poet in China's internment camps.
Today's poet is Adil Tuniyaz, one of the most famous poets writing in Uyghur.
He's been in a camp since 2017. His crime: being born a Uyghur.
Below is my translation of one of his poems.
Please RT.
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Just learned that the Foreign Press Association has shortlisted
#Uyghur
poet
@HamutTahir
's article (translated & introduced by me) for Print & Web News Story of the Year.
#FPAawards21
Read Tahir's piece if you haven't already:
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Excited to receive my copy of the Tarikh-i Hamidi, as translated by
@EricTSchluessel
. Hard to overstate how important this work is in
@Uyghur
historiography or how much of a service Eric has done by translating it. Been great watching this project grow fr conception to completion
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Glad
@zaralarsson
has come out in support of
#Uyghur
human rights. One way for her to raise awareness would be to cover a song by a Uyghur singer/poet in China's internment camps. I'd be happy to provide a translation.Anyone know how to contact her? Pls RT
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On
#WorldPoetryDay
, honor the
#Uyghur
poets in China's internment camps.
Each day this week, I'll post a poem by a different Uyghur poet in the camps + my translation
#1
: Perhat Tursun—poet, novelist & dear friend of mine. Here's his poem Sleeper at Dusk. Translation ⬇
Pls RT
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I keep thinking of these lines by
#Uyghur
poet Semender (tr JLF):
𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀
𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲
𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲
Stop this war. #нетвойне
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#Uyghur
poet Ekhmetjan Osman is just amazing
𝗖𝗢𝗗𝗔 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦
Enough, Scheherazade, that’s plenty of tales,
I want to leave this endless fright.
Give me one single sunlit day
over a thousand and one long nights.
tr JLF
img Nesrin
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#Uyghur
poet Bughda Abdulla is a master at saying a lot with just a few words.
—————
𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲?
𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗲,
𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲.
—————
𝘵𝘳: 𝘑 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯
𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵: 𝘕𝘦𝘴𝘳𝘪𝘯
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My friend Rahile Dawut turned 55 yesterday
She spent her birthday where she spent her last few birthdays: in a Chinese internment camp.
Her crime: being born a
#Uyghur
.
Thx to
@bcamcrane
for this excellent profile of Rahile & her brave daughter
@akida_p
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A heartbreaking and important piece about imprisoned
#Uyghur
anthropologist Rahile Dawut. Please take a few minutes to read.
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This week I am highlighting
#Uyghur
poets in China's internment camps.
Today's poet is my old professor Abduqadir Jalalidin.
He wrote this haunting poem in the camp where he has been held more than 3 years.
Hear it now, recited by Mukaddas Mijit, translated by me.
Please RT.
The poet Abduqadir Jalalidin has been detained in an internment camp by the Chinese state since 2018. But he’s continued writing poems — including “No Road Back Home,” which reached a translator this summer. Mukaddas Mijit reads it in the original Uighur.
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In the last 4 years, China has sent most
#Uyghur
writers to internment camps.
Now, hear their voices. Each day this week, I'll post a poem by one Uyghur poet in the camps.
Today: Idris Nurulla, detained 2017. Below is my translation of his poem "I Am Outside or at Home"
Pls RT
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#Uyghur
poet Muhemmetjan Rashidin, now in his eighties, writes lovely, life-affirming work.
——————————
In this life, regrets are piled high
Unreached dreams are the moon in the sky
Life’s lovely as the moon when you’re nearby
No, you’re not done living yet
𝘵𝘳 𝘑 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯
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Thanks to
@JonathanCape
for doing such a beautiful job with the UK edition of 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. My English translation of Tahir Hamut Izgil's remarkable memoir arrives in UK bookstores August 3.
@TahirIzgil
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Since 2017, most
#Uyghur
writers have disappeared into China's internment camps.
Each day this week, I'm posting a poem by a different Uyghur poet in China's camps.
Today's poet: Abduqadir Jüme, detained 4 years ago.
Poem recited by Mukaddas Mijit, translated by me.
Please RT
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I think each day of my dear friend Perhat Tursun, imprisoned by China for the crime of being
#Uyghur
Perhat is one of the funniest, most brilliant & most generous people I've ever known
Thx to
@BethanyAllenEbr
for this excellent profile of Perhat
Pls RT
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The resilience and creativity of the
#Uyghur
diaspora is a constant inspiration.
The wonderful children's journal Four-Leaf Clover تۆتقۇلاق is dedicated to passing Uyghur culture on to the next generation.
I was pleased to contribute this short piece on poetry to the new issue:
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#Uyghur
poet Muhemmetjan Rashidin's work is lovely and life-affirming. This poem would make a great country song.Any singers interested?
The things you’re meant to do ain’t done
Your midnight dreams continue on
It’s winter now, but spring’s to come
No, you’re not done living yet
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I think of this
#Uyghur
poem all the time. Which I guess is the point of the poem.
𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦
𝗘𝗸𝗵𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗷𝗮𝗻 𝗢𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲…
𝗜𝘀…
𝗠𝘆…
𝗘𝗰𝗵𝗼…
————————
Tr: J Freeman
Calligraphy: Efvan
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This
#NationalPoetryMonth
, remember the
#Uyghur
poets in China's internment camps.
My dear friend Perhat Tursun, poet & novelist, has spent more than 3 years in China's camps.
His crime: he was born a Uyghur.
Below, read my translation of one of his poems.
Please RT.
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#Uyghur
poet Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed sings of his homeland:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹
𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿.
𝗢𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱:
𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱!
tr J Freeman
text: Nesrin
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This stunning
#Uyghur
poem by Ekhmetjan Osman is four words long. —tr JLF
𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲…
𝗜𝘀…
𝗠𝘆…
𝗘𝗰𝗵𝗼…
Calligrapher Ablikim Emet shared w me his lovely rendering of the poem. Click for full view
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Striking
#Uyghur
poem by Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed:
𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱
𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱
𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵
𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗻
𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱
𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝘀
Translated: J Freeman
Calligraphy: Ablikim Emet
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#Uyghur
poet Adil Tuniyaz disappeared w his family into China's gulag in 2017.
His poetry lives on.
I have no flavor to me
Sorrows are my salt
I can’t say what my life lacks
Sometimes there’s no need for me,
sometimes no need for my shadow
tr Freeman༄img Nesrin
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Take a minute to hear a stunning poem by one of the greatest
#Uyghur
poets.
"...in the eternal smiles of the dead
those smiles like God’s face
all colors extinguish without a trace"
—Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed
Recited by Mukaddas Mijit, produced by
@teklimakan
, translated by me.
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Since 2017, the Chinese state has sent over a million
#Uyghurs
to internment camps. One is poet Abduqadir Jalalidin.
This summer, I received a poem he wrote in the camps. See it recited below.
The Chinese govt tried to silence him. Now the whole world can hear his poetry.Pls RT
The poet Abduqadir Jalalidin has been detained in an internment camp by the Chinese state since 2018. But he’s continued writing poems — including “No Road Back Home,” which reached a translator this summer. Mukaddas Mijit reads it in the original Uighur.
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#Uyghur
poem of the day:
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘪𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘯
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦
𝘕𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘵
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#Uyghur
poet Seydulla Firdews:
𝗜𝗳
𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵
𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁
𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘑 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯
𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯: 𝘕𝘦𝘴𝘳𝘪𝘯
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Excellent piece by
@YasmeenSerhan
on 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵,
@TahirIzgil
's memoir of the crisis in the Uyghur homeland. As always, was good talking with Yasmeen; as always, she brings out the story with great skill.
@TIME
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3 years later, Abduqadir is still imprisoned.
3 years later, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Mo Yan has not said one word about the internment of his translator.
3 years later, one of Abduqadir's poems still echoes in my mind. Here's Mukaddas Mijit reciting the poem.
Please RT.
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Twitter informs me it's been exactly one year since I joined. Glad I did! This turns out to be a great place to share
#Uyghur
poetry.
Thanks to everyone who's been reading and sharing my translations. Lots more of them to come!
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Thanks to
@kenanmalik
for this insightful & moving review in the
@Guardian
of Uyghur poet
@TahirIzgil
's memoir.
"For a poet living in a culture within which 'verse is woven into daily life', writing is necessarily also an act of witness and of resistance."
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My old professor Abduqadir Jalalidin penned these lines 18 yrs ago. I've thought of them often since China sent him to a camp for being
#Uyghur
.
Look as I am buried alive
in black smoke rising from burned books
Look as my wings call the spring
singing truth in a sandstorm tongue
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Delighted to share that my translations of 3 poems by
#Uyghur
refugee poet Imran Sada'i have just been published by
@wwborders
. This is the first publication in English of Imran's remarkable work.
Illustrated by the super-talented Julia Griffin
@madainn
.
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In
#Uyghur
culture, people from all walks of life write poetry.
My friend Muqeddes Muxter, an anthropologist living in Europe, just sent me this poem she wrote. It's rather awesome.
Below is my translation. Be sure to read to the end.
𝟭/𝟯
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Lines by
#Uyghur
poet Hendan:
𝗬𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁
𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘄𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀
𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆,
𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁.
tr J Freeman
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If you're free tonight—and let's be honest, you are—why not watch a Uyghur poetry translation slam with myself, Mutallip Anwar, Karen Emmerich, and one of the great living poets, Tahir Hamut Izgil? Livestreaming 8pm EST at
@SantJordiNYC
@PENworldvoices
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Listening to these interviews, I'm once more stunned by Ilham Tohti’s bravery. I keep remembering the moment I learned he'd been given a life sentence. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.
But the name “Ilham” means “inspiration.” Let everyone know it.
#FreeIlham
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Words by imprisoned
#Uyghur
poet Perhat Tursun:
When Abraham slept at dusk
he dreamed two thousand years of exile
But I am not so mighty
I cannot dream a nation’s fate
When I sleep I see only my own future
My son wakes me from this dream like the dawn
tr J Freeman༄img Nesrin
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Just translated this brief, beautiful
#Uyghur
poem. Enjoy.
———
I looked for pure black in the night
and saw white points
I gave to them the name of dawn
I searched through daytime for clear white
and saw dark shadows
I carved on them the sign of dusk
—Muyesser Abdul'ehed Hendan
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I love this
#Uyghur
poem:
𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗗𝗔𝗪𝗡
Alwasti
You are in this land
I am in this land
We opened, we flowered
as unwritten history
𝘵𝘳 𝘑 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯
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#Uyghur
poet Hendan insists on being herself:
—————————————
Let the world see what it will,
I’ll still see my own color.
Looking not to the white of burial shrouds
but to green and violet love,
I will die so beautifully.
—————————————
𝘵𝘳 𝘑 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯 ༄ 𝘪𝘮𝘨 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘶𝘯
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#Uyghur
poet Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed dared to imagine a different world. Two years after his death, these lines are more powerful than ever:
When Homeland was not yet a word,
all the world was homeland to him.
When Nation was not yet a word,
all of mankind was his nation.
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#Uyghur
poet Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed handwrote these lines 2 years before he died:
༄
I rubbed the colors from my smile
brushed the dust off of my sorrows
ripped up
my poems that sang of eternal devotion
Sweeping away all the trash of my heart
I prepared myself to love
༄
tr JLF
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When I listened to these interviews, I was stunned by Ilham Tohti’s bravery. I kept remembering the moment I learned he'd been given a life sentence. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.
But the name “Ilham” means “inspiration.” Let everybody know it.
#FreeIlham
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#Uyghur
poet Muhemmetjan Rashidin died last year. Everyone should know his work:
In this life, regrets are piled high
Unreached dreams are the moon in the sky
Life’s lovely as the moon when you’re nearby
No, you’re not done living yet
tr Joshua Freeman / img Ablikim Emet
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New poem by
#Uyghur
refugee poet Nesrin:
DID YOU DREAM OF ME LAST NIGHT?
Abide Abbas Nesrin
tr J Freeman
Did you dream of me last night?
Lonely as the stars
dejected as the rain
luckless as myself.
Did you dream of me
as a comb with broken teeth
as a bead seeking a string?
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Just published in The Times Literary Supplement
@TheTLS
: my review of The Contest of the Fruits, a remarkable volume on
#Uyghur
culture.
Work by
@Dave_Brophy
@menevere
@AndersonEliseM
@dtbyler
@Rachel_A_Harris
@HamutTahir
@EricTSchluessel
@slavsandtatars
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As China works to erase
#Uyghur
culture, the diaspora is keeping it alive.
I'm pleased to announce that young Uyghur refugee poet Abide Abbas Nesrin has published her 1st poetry collection, The Crane.
Here's my translation of a poem from the collection. I'll post more soon. 1/2
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