For this year’s Free The Word festival, we at 26 paid tribute to the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Fifty of us scribbled a 50 word sketch in honour of a prolific writer from PEN’s armoury. Jack Mapanje, my man, is a Malawi born poet, who was imprisoned for four years without cause. You can see all of our pieces for 26:50 on the 26 Tumblr Here are mine:
Jack Mapanje
“Jack… Jack…”
Someone calling out for him,
Lost in the night.
Another bad dream.
Morning used to break here,
full of the song of the birds.
“Jack… Jack…”
They came for him.
Singing
Without charge,
They get the man but not the name.
His is with the birds
‘Jack… Jack…’
by Mike Exon
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