Poetry review: Rafeef Ziadah - Spailpín Fánach, Cork

4/5

Palestinian poet and activist Rafeef Ziadah grew up a refugee in Lebanon and took to performing after a racist attacker in New York kicked her in the stomach and told her she deserved to be raped before she gave birth to more terrorists. For Ziadah, then, there is no separation between art and politics; they are interwoven in her work.

Ziadah, 36, now lives in London and has just released a spoken word album, Hadeel, in collaboration with Phil Mansur, an Australian/Palestinian activist and songwriter. Her impassioned poem We Teach Life, Sir went viral after it was posted to YouTube and has nearly one million views.