Jazra Khaleed

ΡΕΦΡΑΙΝ

Language: greek
Translations: german (REFRAIN), english (REFRAIN), serbian (REFREN), haitian (REFREN), arabic (اللازمة الشعرية), albanian (REFREN), spanish (REFRÁN), dutch (REFREIN)

ΡΕΦΡΑΙΝ

Με λένε Γ-Ι-Α-Ζ-Ρ-Α
Γεννήθηκα στης Δύσης το σκοτάδι
Λαθραίος μένω σε πείσμα αριστερών
Όμορφα περνά το βράδυ
Τσακίζοντας κεφάλια φασιστών

Jazra Khaleed

photo © private
* 21.05.1979, Grozny, Russia
lives in: Athens, Greece
Jazra Khaleed (b. 1979 in Grosny, Chechnya) lives in Athens, writes exclusively in Greek, and is known as a poet, editor, translator and filmmaker. His works are protests against the injustices in contemporary Greece and the surge of rascism, dealing with the impoverishment of life in Greece, the anti-fascist struggle, and the difficult and desperate lives of migrants from Africa and the Middle and Near East in Athens.

His poems have been widely translated for publications in Europe, the US and Australia, such as World Literature Today, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Guardian, Modern Poetry in Translation, The Literary Review, Westerly, Poetry International, Glänta, Lichtungen, Manuskripte, Die Horen and Sintel. A selection of his poems is included in the anthology Austerity Measures (Penguin, 2016; NYRB, 2017).

photo © private
His performances have been described as “possessing the kind of energy that pervades the riots on the streets of Athens” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), “explosive” (Berliner Zeitung) and “wild, energetic and forceful” (junge Welt).

Since 2008, he edits the literary magazine Teflon, in which he publishes his own poems, translations and essays. Among others, he has translated poems by Amiri Baraka, Elfriede Jelinek, Etel Adnan, Bert Papenfuß, Keston Sutherland, Lionel Fogarty,  Barbara Köhler and Ann Cotten, and has written essays on the most varied topics, including the poetry of the Aborigines, the avant-garde poetry of East Germany, the contemporary Arab poetry and the poetics of hip hop.

In 2014 he co-wrote the script and co-produced the short film The Aegean or the Anus of Death that is based on his self-titled poem. The film was selected and awarded by distinguished international film festivals across the world. His newest short film “Gone Is Syria, Gone” (2016) has been selected for Ann Arbor Film Festival, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Kasseler Dokfest, L’Alternativa and Paris Festival for Different and Experimental Cinema.
Publications

  • Bin ohne Menschen

    Berlin: Hochroth Verlag/ Poesiefestival Berlin, 2010:

  • Jazra Grosny

    Berlin: Verlag Distillery, 2013

  • VERSENSPORN - Jazra Khaleed

    Heft für lyrische Reize

    Nr. 21

    Jena: Poesie schmeckt gut e.V., 2015

Prizes

  • 2014 SOUNDOUT! Award for New Ways of Presenting Literature, Berlin

  • 2014 Best Film for Tolerance Award for the short film “The Aegean or the Anus of Death”, Zebra Poetry Film Festival, Berlin

  • 2014 International Competition Award for the short film “The Aegean or the Anus of Death”, Paris Festival for Different and Experimental Cinema, Paris

  • 2014 Jury Special Mention for the short film “The Aegean or the Anus of Death”, Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival, Sarajevo

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