Sahrawi poet
Hadjatu Aliat Swelm |
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Born | 1973
Sagir Valley, Western Sahara |
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Occupation | Poet |
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Hadjatu Aliat Swelm (Arabic: حجاتو عليات سويلم; born 1973) is a Sahrawi poet, whose work examines the role of women in Sahrawi culture.
Biography
Swelm was born in the Sagir Valley, Western Sahara.[1][2] She has written poetry throughout her life, mostly political work which was first and has subsequently been published under a pseudonym.[3][4] In 1999, the publication of a poem she wrote about 66 political prisoners led to Moroccan authorities finding out her identity and a loss of her anonymity.[1] After a rising number of police raids on her home and family, she moved to Aosserd camp, in order to protect her family from Moroccan authorities.[5][1] Her poetry focuses on the role of women within the Sahrawi struggle.[1] Both she and the poet Hossein Moulud have written about life at the Gdeim Izik protest camp.[6]
Swelm's work was first translated to English by the writers Sam Berkson and Mohamed Sulaiman, in their volume of Sahrawi Poetry Settled Wanderers.[1]
References