AM Interview: Ashraf Aboul-Yazid
Interview with the Egyptian author Ashraf Aboul-Yazid on his poetry book “A Street in Cairo”
“In travel, you don't discover places,
but you rediscover yourself through the lives of others.”
What motivated you to write the book “A Street in Cairo”?
This main poem of the book presents a person who comes home after a long absence; it is reflecting my return to my country, similar to many people who face the same situation and discover the critical changes in their own homeland.
Was this a spiritual, poetry journey inspired by a real journey?
I have been traveling and working away of Cairo, for almost three decades, but I used to take my city with me; the original images of life, literature, music, people and architecture. But finding out the disappearance of these images was too hard.
Where is that Street in Cairo?
It is everywhere. It is every street I crossed, with every building I loved, in every shop I entered and every tree I stood under its shadows. It is the street of faded memories I am trying to save from vanishing.
What is your favorite street in Cairo?
It could be the street along the River Nile, or the historic street of Al Moez led in Allah Al Fatemy, this is the practical choice. But the spiritual one is the street that witnessed certain unforgettable moments, beginning with Tahrir Square.
How Jack Hirschman made an impact on you as a poet?
You could easily find out in the poem I wrote for him, The 1001 Lamp of Jack Hirschman. On the streets of San Francisco with his palm tree body Jack was carrying his poetic ladder. He used to support it on the pillars of light and ascend, Holding a secret lamp box to light up a thousand and one day: He lit a lamp for freedom, a glowing lamp that would illuminate the darkness for guerrillas in the heart of their caves. A lightning lamp for the caring mothers; of land, language, and people, A lamp for the survivors of forced migrations, And another lamp for the islands exiled from the sea of love. He carried the last lamp to roam the world’s roads; From Haiti to Vietnam, and from Colombia to Palestine… I believe that Jack Hirschman is the perfect ideal, not only for me, but for all modern poets alike.
You dedicated a poem to your birth city of Benha. If you could describe it in a metaphorical manner, how would you depict it to our readers?
I was born in the city of honey! Benha “alasal” or Benha of Honey is the name known by its residents, referring to a folk tale that the Prophet Mohammed has been gifted a jar of the city’s honey. This is why I wrote that the city was pouring its honey in my dream. For me, the city’s geography represents a universal image, of peninsula surrounded by the River Nile. In our childhood, when water goes down, we were playing on the temporary islands appearing only in summer, the city introduced us to magical images that we read about on Sinbad’s disappeared island.
In your opinion, what is the true meaning of travels? What it means to you personally?
In travel, you don't discover places, but you rediscover yourself through the lives of others. You rediscover your favorite choices, characteristics, ways of thinking and so on. My travels present my biography in many ways, but my novels - as my poems - reflect the echoes of my travels in the places I visit, document and the characters I wrote about. For me, life is a long travel interrupted by many stops.
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