Irki

In Irki, Kadija Sesay unlocks experiences and stories – at times amusing and loving, at other times confusing and sad – that surround the ‘invisibility’ of private fostering, the dislocations and negotiations of migration, and home as an imagined, remembered and physical place. ‘Irki’ means ‘homeland’ in the Nubian language – a language which is fast becoming extinct.

Kadija returns at times to this loss of history and tradition, in a collection that brings to bear the memory of a pan-African homeland upon the reality of a British upbringing. Writing as a second generation West African, Kadija tells of the arrival of parents of different religions, the loss of a national tongue, and growing up Black, as one of the ‘Michael Jackson generation’, against the racially divided background of Britain in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

One of only a handful of West African-descended poets writing and publishing in Britain today, Kadija confronts the common experience of private fostering that many from her community have faced but feel unable to talk about openly. She ends her debut collection on the edge, skirting borders as she draws upon her travels to relate intimate childhood experiences.

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