FINAŁ „Narracji” – Konkursu Literackiego X Festiwalu Studiów Azjatyckich i Afrykańskich

KILKA SŁÓW OD ORGANIZATORÓW

Jesteśmy podtapiani przez szum informacji. Ten szum to przeróżne wizje, które są ze sobą zgniatane, rozgrzewane, naciągane, kolorowane i wytarte od naszych błędów. Kolonialne i stalowe tezy nadal drgają, mieszają się z opowieścią dziadka, obrazkiem z atlasu, paskiem w wiadomościach, kazaniem, podręcznikiem i snem. Dodawane są do nich zapachy kadzideł, wiśni, paliwa, kawy i pieniędzy. Co poczujemy, gdy sięgniemy do tej mieszkanki?

Celem konkursu było wyciągnięcie wizji siedzących w waszych głowach. Chcieliśmy dowiedzieć się, jak postrzegacie orient i okcydent. Nasz festiwal to tysiące spojrzeń – dołączmy więc do nich te papierowe.

Pierwsze spojrzenie ma ostry zapach, jest krzyczące i szorstkie. Drugie spojrzenie jest wysublimowane i redagowane. Trzecie spojrzenie jest ciepłe i zatapia się w przyjemności. Czwarte spojrzenie jest dzikie i pierwotne.

Co stałoby się gdyby osoby 1 i 3 zamienić z 2 i 4? Jak zmieniłyby się ich wizje? Różniące się refleksje to temat bez końca i bez początku. Odbicie tych opinii obserwujemy w czynach, zachowaniach i wydarzeniach. Twory wychodzące z naszych głów nieustannie tworzą, inspirują i budują. Poznajmy je.

Konkurs organizowany był w ramach X Festiwalu Studiów Azjatyckich i Afrykańskich, pod patronatem magazynu Stoner Polski. Finał konkursu odbył się podczas Wieczoru Poetyckiego 10 maja 2024 r. Przyznano trzy Nagrody Główne. Teksty zwycięzców publikujemy poniżej, a laureaci otrzymali również zestawy książkowe. Każdy uczestnik konkursu obecny na finale otrzymał poetyckie upominki i dyplomy. Książki przekazane zostały przez Stonera Polskiego, a wśród nich znalazły się tomiki wydane m.in. przez SPP Oddział w Łodzi czy Tłocznię Wydawniczą ACH JO.

WERDYKT

Komitet konkursowy w składzie: Karolina Krasny, Martyna Krasny, Michał Mytnik, Anna Pach i Katarzyna Raczek, postanowił równorzędnie nagrodzić 3 następujące utwory: Sahara Wave, PRZERYWNIK oraz as-Saḥābat uṣ-Ṣaġirah.

Wiersz Sahara wave autorstwa Huberta Kasperowicza za frajdę, refleksję i brzmienie oraz porywczą energię lirycznego wołacza nadchodzącego zza pustynnego muru.

Wiersz PRZERYWNIK autorstwa Pawła Stasiewicza za dynamikę, ciągłe bycie na styku, eksplorację granic jukstapozycji oraz odzyskanie kumpelstwa Césaire’a i Ważyka.

Prozę poetycką as-Saḥābat uṣ-Ṣaġirah autorstwa Eliasza Lewadnego za podwójną synergie: prozy z wierszem i poetyki z nauką, a także błyskotliwe przeniesienie tematu orientu ze skali globalnej na galaktyczną.

NAGRODZONE PRACE

Hubert Kasperowicz, Sahara Wave

Through the desert it goes
From one point to another
Voices from its beginning echo in the ears of those further down
Concrete rosary beads above their heads in rhythmic prayer conjoined
With masks painted upon them looking down

Walk and dance colourfully
Daughters and sons of Moremi!
And bring your gifts to the walls
Daughters and sons of Her of Sheba!
Bring your hearts on the platter
Bring your eyes on the platter
Give your hands
Give your legs
Give your entire selves
Bring eggs and semen on the platters

And splatter against the walls of no mirrors
Instead of roses, hold power in your interiors
With words, and slogans, and love
Hearts, hands, and legs – fight your “superiors”

Till there is a stirring on the other side of the wall
And the first bricks and blocks of concrete fall
Till the voices on the other side sing in terror
O, bayeza o, bayeza
They are coming. They ARE coming.

Paweł Stasiewicz, PRZERYWNIK

feat. Aimé Césaire & Adam Ważyk

Niewyraźny sok jogurtu bez skrobi
w popicie
pił mączny
południe jest za mną
rzadki posiew twoich jaj
spękanych siedzi i
żabki zatrzaśnięcia palców
O roztarte słońce
oślepiasz panu makaron i kreski
o łuskowatych dłoniach parówek
chwilowy zanik kieszeni

Eliasz Lewadny, as-Saḥābat uṣ-Ṣaġirah

It is fascinating how objects so far away from each other can have so many similarities.

The universe has watched different species come to life and go extinct, time after time, letting it be without any sorrow. This is the way of things. So was the desert, unforgiving, seeing all the great empires rise and fall, not longing for any of it, for what is human life compared to millennia of the sand and dust? Yet another necessary step, an extinction – just one more familiar with people.

Sand is the most common thing you can find there. It travels with wind, covering long distances that man in the past could not have dreamt of. Is there a limit it can go; the end of the world? How long would it take for a single grain to cross all the deserts, all the possible paths?

The cosmic equivalent of sand is dark matter. It, too, stretches as far as the eye can see, creating background for the other wonders, so they can shine brighter. All the heavenly bodies seem more welcoming when compared to near-black void. And it is a great honor, key role – otherwise everything would be dull.

Isn’t sand’s burden the same? After all, palm trees are more precious when surrounded by tall dunes.

The desert; empty and dead, alone – just as the Bootes Void, the dark place on the Universe’s map. But after a closer look, with better equipment, clearer photos, it is possible to see the stars. There are not many of them there. Certainly not as many as in the other parts of the Universe, but clearly they exist. That is their home, the only thing they know, and it is undeniably beautiful. With their dim but steady light they are saying: we are here; do not forget that!

And the desert – there are some species that evolved to live in its hostile territory. Small but brave gerbils, snakes lying on the sand, Jericho roses moving around constantly, and humans, even. All of them have their own way of survival; their own light, marking their presence. Is it really lifeless, if you can find survivors there?

Helix Nebula, the Eye of God, they call it, is located hundreds light years away from Earth, yet is the closest one of its kind to Earth. Copper ring with sky-blue core, constantly

observing the world around it. And deep in the middle of the desert there are oases, beautiful and thriving. How similar is their view – seeing life come and go, just from different perspectives? One with a closer look, feeling each and every step of the travelers that come by, thirsty and worn out from sand in their eyes and mouths, in desperate need of water. They reach the place, sit down under the tree line, fill their bottles; middle of nowhere, yet so familiar and snug. The other one waited patiently for the man to find it – and when he finally looked at it, it looked back, willing to share its treasures.

Nebulae are the very beginning of life – without them no star could have been born. They are nothing but giant space ecosystems, letting the world evolve even though they constitute only a small percentage of the matter. And aren’t oases the same with their ability to help all the organisms flourish?

There is no such thing as two exact same galaxies or systems. They differ in their shape, light, color, time, even. The galaxies are slowly orbiting the core – just like people, walking through their cities and other settlements.

In the Universe there is a great number of rogue planets. They travel through space; some of them only look from a distance, admiring the galaxies or run in fear of possible loss of freedom if they join them. Other gladly become a part of a system; that’s how they also start circling the same spot, sharing the same goal. In the Middle East, the term for people like that is mawla, the clients. They wander, with ones only taking a quick stop in the city, and others willing to become one with the residents.

There is also not a thing of bigger importance for the Bedouins than a camel. They are crucial to sustain life on the harsh desert, being the only creature that is a bridge between survival and death. A dead camel is a dead tribe. This is the reason why unjustified killing of this animal is met with a wish of vengeance, just as it was in case of al-Basus – a decades long conflict. In space this responsibility belongs to moons. They carry their battle scars – great craters from meteorite impacts that would have otherwise destroyed the planets – with pride, showing the world their devotion. Without them Earth and the other planets would be doomed to annihilation. Moons shield them from harm, knowing that in case of planet’s destruction they would meet a similar fate, with no gravity holding them safely in place and getting too close to other celestial bodies, colliding with them as a result.

How can objects so distant be just as caring for their planets as ranchers are of their stock?

What makes black holes scary for the masses is their unknown. Man, after all these years on earth, still feels distress when standing against unfamiliarity. And many – instead of willing to learn – make up their own stories, with said unfamiliarity as their greatest enemy. It is not common knowledge that a coin-sized black hole has a bigger mass than the entire Earth; how much of it are forgotten universes that only It can remember?

History is what we might call telling each other events that are held in our brain – an organ that is seemingly too small to be able to store the entirety of our lifetime. Stories of great wars that took lives, ancient olive trees facing the sun, shape of dunes near water sources, feel of the sand under legs and hot air mixed with smell of incense during its transport to other cities. It is nothing but a song. A song that can be heard by only those that are willing to listen, beautiful qasida with its rhythm created by thumping on the sand. Form of poetry that helped winning wars and softened hearts of the rulers, who in return for their wisdom put their cloaks on the backs of the reciters. And the black holes also sing. In a different way from what most know, from what most are used to, but different does not always mean fearsome.

So can you hear it? Can you hear their music?

The creation of all great empires and dynasties was similar to the life cycle of a star. They both come to existence in places that let them flourish – one in nebulae, other near oases. With time they continue their growth. Nebula changes into dust, and dust becomes a protostar

– small and not ready to carry the weight of its own system, slowly evolving. It is a long process, but worth it, as after years of slow growth it finally gains the title of a true star, able to sustain life. It doesn’t end there though – stars are greedy, and they feel the need to grow as big as possible, even at the cost of crushing everything that is on their way. And soon after an explosion occurs.

The final stage is a supernova. One of the most spectacular events in space, inevitable, blamed by many for destruction of objects nearby. Despite this popular belief, this is not the case at all. They are responsible for creating new life; some of them become nebulae, and the process begins anew.

The most known nova in the Middle East was the beginning of a new religion. So bright and loud that no one could have missed it. That event changed the world forever – it again created a nebula that evolved each year, with men conquering new territories and getting allies while spreading the word of Allah. They were full of energy, slowly taking over the dying gigants; Romans and Persians. And from a small protostar, from Ali and Mu’awiya, a caliphate arose

– a brand new star, the brightest one in the sky, blinding and proud. The star changed names a few times, as well as the trajectory of the planets orbiting it. But despite its victories it was never enough – and finally, after hundreds of years, the star began fading, slowly getting closer to meet its fate.

The biggest stars become black holes – stories to be told, a shadow of what once was and will never be again. The end of Umayyads and Abbasids – largest empires the world had yet seen, now nothing but a history. How is it that the fate of the most radiant stars is sealed by being the darkest objects in the Universe? They are impossible to forget or ignore – but at what cost?

And far away from the Earth lies Andromeda; as-Saḥābat uṣ-Ṣaġirah, Little Cloud, a man named it. Closest sibling to the Milky Way, found during a calm night on an isolated desert. Remote and unknown, yet so pleasing for the eye. Does Andromeda also have its own al-Sufi, who gave our galaxy such a sweet name?

The two worlds met for the first time years ago, and since then began to narrow the distance between. But centuries have passed, cities have been built, and artificial light has covered the night sky, making it impossible to see what once was known to everyone. Stars are vanishing; the smell of spices fades. They are still there – just harder and harder to notice. How long until people stop caring for their olive trees and forget their taste?

Space and East have many common grounds, with main being called distant and exotic by ones that do not know much about them. They are both expanding at their own pace, but just as space has its Great Attractor, forcing it to get to its core no matter what, so has the Middle East, for the world is evolving, and they have to keep up with it. And as the outsiders are eager to expand their knowledge, they are not sure –

if to watch it in awe from the distance

or to come close and change it

so it resembles their own world and becomes unrecognizable.

Ilustracja: Maja Kida