Morning in Serra Mattu by Arif Gamal

Maxine Kumin recommends
Morning in Serra Mattu, an ode by Arif Gamal: ”
Morning in Serra Mattu: A Nubian Ode is actually an oral recitation of life in the Sudan from the 1940’s to the building of the Aswan Dam, as told to E. G. Dubovsky, who recorded it in meter. It is rich with the dailiness of the Nubians, the seasonal planting and harvesting, marriages, education-one young man goes to Oxford and is befriended by Aldous Huxley. The metrics are never intrusive, but vital to the telling.” (Arkady)