Raafat Hekmat, Aaiún Nin, Hussein Al-Dahir, Irakli Kakabadze and Nada Al Khawwam published by the Poetry Foundation

The folio opens with an introduction by its curators, Laura Kraftowitz and Edward Salem of City of Asylum Detroit, which has also been a member of ICORN since 2020. Their feature provides information about the participating authors, the opportunities and challenges of continuing creative work in exile following experiences of persecution, and the fellowships offered by City of Asylum Detroit, including ICORN residencies.

Many of the poems in the folio were either previously unpublished in English or available only in limited circulation.

Aaiún Nin

Three of Aaiún Nin's poems are featured in the magazine: 'I Offered My Hand', 'In the Camp', and 'McDonald's Money'.

Aaiún Nin is a poet, activist and mixed-media artist from Angola whose work explores and confronts issues of gender, race and sexuality, both in the context of postcolonial Africa and through the experiences of migrants in Europe.

Nin is currently based in Switzerland, following an ICORN residency in Bern between 2023 and 2025.

Hussein Al-Dahir

Hussein Al-Dahir is a poet, writer and journalist from Syria whose work reflects on conflict in Syria and explores issues of identity, exile and migration. Al-Dahir was the ICORN resident in Færder, Norway, between 2024 and 2026, where he continues to live.

Three of Al-Dahir's poems have been published in the Poetry magazine in both Arabic and English. These include 'Each Morning I Reassemble My Face', 'Exile Grows on Our Chests Like Green Mold', and 'Five Years Have Passed in Exile'.

Raafat Hekmat

Raafat Hekmat is a Syrian poet and short-story writer whose work has appeared in multiple anthologies. He was the ICORN resident in Stockholm between 2023 and 2025.

The Poetry magazine has published two of Hekmat's poems in both Arabic and English, including 'In the Bathroom' and 'In Wartime'.

Nada Al Khawwam

The Poetry magazine features one of Nada Al Khawwam's poems, 'On the Grass of Exile', in both Arabic and English.

Al Khawwam is a poet, journalist and writer from Iraq whose work reflects on displacement, exile and the complexities these experiences bring to personal identity. She was the ICORN resident in Berlin between 2018 and 2020.

Irakli Kakabadze

Irakli Kakabadze is a writer, performance artist and human rights activist from Georgia with numerous publications to his name. He was the ICORN resident at City of Asylum Ithaca between 2008 and 2011, after which he returned to Georgia. There, he experienced renewed persecution, leading him to take up an ICORN residency with PEN Català in Barcelona.

The Poetry magazine features one of Kakabadze's poems, 'Decolonizing the Self', in both Georgian and English.

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You can find the June/August 2026 issue of the Poetry magazine here.