‘The Poet and Suleika’ was the first of a series of events over the summer of 2019 celebrating the publication of Gingko’s A New Divan, and featured three prominent participants this ambitious project: Don Paterson, one of Scotland’s greatest contemporary poets, writers and musicians; the Emirati poet and filmmaker Nujoom Alghanem, who wrote a modern version of the love duet between Suleika and Hatem; and Paul Farley, who produced the English version of the Raoul Schrott’s poem ‘suleika spricht’. This lyrical dialogue between East and West was matched by a musical one, with Hafiz poems, set to music by 20^th century German composers Gottfried von Einem, Viktor Ullmann and Richard Strauss, and Goethe Lieder sung by Simon Wallfisch accompanied by Craig White.

Click here to listen to a podcast of this event.