#EvolutionaryPoems

Book Launch #ተንከባላይግጥሞች / #EvolutionaryPoems by Mihret Kebede, translated Anna Moschovakis, with sound artists Bassano Bonelli and Tahereh Nourani

Publisher: Circumference Books

We are delighted to invite you to the launch of #ተንከባላይግጥሞች / #EvolutionaryPoems, a bilingual (Amharic-English) collection by Mihret Kebede and co-translator Anna Moschovakis, which was recently recognized by the New York Public Library as one of the 25 best poetry books selected from over 200.
This moment celebrates not only the book, but also a long journey of artistic practice and research that has been shaped over several years.

With 209 poems the #evolutionarypoems series traces cycles of unrest, resistance, and silenced voices for seven years within Ethiopia’s socio-political landscape offering poetry as both a knowledge production force and a methodological intervention to study these patterns. More than a collection, this work is a gesture towards healing; it reflects a practice of self-confrontation and balance while inviting a shared space for reflection and possibility. Through each line, it acknowledges past and present struggles, while holding space for a possible future and collective transformation, seeking to examine and recognize recurring patterns of intricate events and silenced voices. At its core, the collection explores silence not as absence or void, but as a powerful form of communication and resistance with its own agency and multifaceted expressions in a given society. Developed over seven years as part of a PhD project, this collection has the first 100 evolutionarypoems with their English translations and notes.

Accompanying Performance: A trio formed through a collaborative project between artist/poet Mihret Kebede and sound artists Bassano Bonelli Bassano and Tahereh Nourani. A multilingual encounter of poetry, sound, and improvisation - listening through trembling silence, expanding resonance, and vibrations pulsating between intimacy and intensity.