A Monkey at the Window

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi is one of the leading African poets writing in Arabic today. Famous in his native Sudan, the vivid imagery of his searing, lyric poems create the world afresh in their yearning for transcendence. In 2005 Saddiq's poems were first translated into English by the Poetry Translation Centre for their first World Poets' Tour. Since then he has received a rapturous reception from UK audiences. Born in Omdurman Khartoum in 1969, Saddiq has published four volumes of poetry, including his Collected Poems (Cairo, 2009). From 2006 he was the cultural editor of Al-Sudani newspaper until he was forced into exile in 2012. He claimed asylum in the UK and now lives in London.