Introducing Slam Poet Hiba Rasheed

Hailing from Sudan is 38-year-old Hiba Rasheed, a spoken word and slam poet, research manager and mother based in Dubai, the UAE. She recently won the Rooftop Rhythms Grand Slam Poetry 2020, the Middle East’s longest-running open mic night organised by NYU Abu Dhabi, featuring leading and up-and-coming spoken word artists, poets, and musicians presenting original material. 

Since 2008, Hiba has been performing on various poetry events and competitions such as Adidas/Def Jam Poetry, Carolina Herrera 212 VIP perfume launch party, 100 Thousand Poets for Change Poetry, Dubai Cultural Night Market, Rooftop Rhythms Open Mic & Slam Competitions and more. She’s recently performed on Kandaka Magazine’s Instagram Live and performed on several music tracks such as Feras “Toofless” Ibrahim’s “For the People” and “Sit Al Shay” (Featuring Nilerhythmik), Wriggly Scott’s “Unparalleled Views”, Diligent Thought’s “Mind Body Soul” and more.

On 19 July 2020, Hiba released her latest spoken word poem, “Al Qiyada Massacre in Sudan” on her YouTube channel, which is the second revolution-inspired poem she has released. The first being #IamTheSudanRevolution, which she released on 27 June 2019.

500 Words Magazine interviews poet Hiba Rasheed about her passion for poetry, slam poetry and the Sudanese revolution.

What inspired you to become a slam poet?

Writing has always been my outlet, companion and haven of introspection, self-evaluation, and fulfilment since I was a child. I also come from a family of poets and writers. However, I did not realise that I wrote poetry until my uncle, the late and established poet Salah Ahmed Ibrahim had passed away. I was eleven years old at the time and his loss was my first encounter with the death of a loved one. I was overwrought with grief and consequently poured my emotions into words, which then became a poem. My deceased father asked me to read the poem at my uncle’s funeral in front of 50 men. Although it was a frightening experience, I am grateful for my father’s encouragement, confidence, and faith in me, which subsequently, paved my way into embracing future on-stage poetry performances.

I have always been fascinated by the way the poets articulated and performed their poems at the American television series Def Poetry Jam. Thus, I was inspired to focus on my performance skills which is a crucial component in poetry slams or slam poetry if you like. When the opportunity arose for me to participate in the slam competitions pioneered by Abu Dhabi’s Rooftop Rhythms and with the encouragement of the founder Dorian Rogers, I took my chances. I participated in three slam competitions, where I came in second place in the first competition, and then won first place in the other two, consequently and humbly becoming the first female poet to win the grand slam title.

Tell us more about slam poetry and its role in spoken word poetry, and poetry in general.

Slam poetry is a poetry competition wherein poets perform their poems without being accompanied by music or props. Each poet is given a duration of three minutes and is scored by a panel of judges chosen randomly from the audience. The poets with the lowest scores are then eliminated and the competition resumes with new rounds until a winner is announced. 

Spoken word poetry primarily depends on word play, voice inflections, intonation, and effects. Open mics and poetry events provide a platform for spoken word or any type of poem to be read and shared but poetry slams, being competitive, provide a thrill, edge, and challenge for spoken word poets. It is a poetry game of wits, language and expression. Some have good prizes too!

Walk us through your writing process and what inspires your poetry.

It starts with a seed, be it a social issue, a captivating word, or a personal situation I am experiencing and grows to take over my being or psyche. The concept becomes dominating that I cannot rest or sleep until the poem is fully formed. My writing process evolved over the years but thanks to the founder of Rooftop Rhythms Dorian Rogers who once said that poetry should be internalised. With that, I stopped writing poetry using pen and paper or on mobile, and began writing poems in my mind.
This process helped immensely with memorising my poems, deeply feeling and connecting to them, as well as recalling and revising them after a long period of time. Of course, after the poem is finished, I document it.
I also have my trusted dictionary/thesaurus app as a reference on my mobile for vocabulary diversification. The writing process could take up to one day or weeks depending on the concept or my circumstances. I do not like to pressure myself and let the poem forge its own path.

I am preponderantly inspired by sociopolitical issues or injustices, spirituality, introspection and most recently, the epic 2018-19 Sudanese revolution.

How does your identity as a Sudanese Muslim woman play a role in or impact your poetry and performances?  

As an expatriate and a third culture kid, I have always struggled with my Sudanese identity. I felt I did not belong to my country of residence though I was attached to it while simultaneously I felt foreign when I went on holidays to Sudan. I wrote about this dilemma in an old poem called “An Xpat’s Dilemma”. It was inevitable that I manifested my personal issues such as racism, hijab, and spiritual conflicts in my poetry, and was also never afraid or hesitant to share with audiences. Despite my inner struggles and past experiences, I have honestly never faced any kind of sexism or bias wherever I performed or shared my poetry. It gives me absolute pride and honour to humbly represent my country, religion, and gender, and to endeavour to be a voice that could help change certain misconceptions or stigmas associated with us.

In 2017, you launched a YouTube channel specifically dedicated to slam poetry. What inspired that?   

It was my brother’s idea to create the channel so I can network and gain more exposure especially that I began to create poetry videos. Times have changed since the first time I stood on stage 12 years ago and social media has now become an integral part of our identities and lives. Moreover, I enjoy manifesting my poetry in visuals with music, and needless to say, YouTube is the best medium for sharing such content.

You recently released the spoken word poem, “Al Qiyada Massacre in Sudan”. As a Sudanese living in the diaspora, watching the revolution from afar, how do you feel you have contributed to the revolution? And how has your poetry contributed to the revolution?

It was painful watching the revolution from afar, and I always had this lingering feeling of guilt and helplessness. However, my family and I were glued to the news and social media night and day. We used to wait for the timing of ‘Thawra wu Nus‘ like we were marching ourselves, and did not miss a day of the revolution, the sit-in and the events that happened afterwards. We prayed fervently, memorised the names of martyrs, did not celebrate 2019’s New Year, celebrated the fall of Al Bashir, and we mourned in Eid after the massacre. I also strived to incessantly forward news on Twitter, translate the Arabic updates in English, tag news channels to all the videos encompassing atrocities, and poured my soul in words and poetry. I know it was not much, but I endeavoured to use the resources at hand to the best of my ability.

As for my poetry contributing to the revolution, I do not know if it has had an impact. What I hope to achieve is an immortalisation of the courage, endurance, and brilliance of my people as well as a reminder of the atrocities and injustice inflicted upon them.

Hiba will be releasing a new poetry video soon, which will draw parallels between the COVID-19 pandemic and 30 June 2020 protests, featuring a collective of Sudanese people in the diaspora and Sudan.

Find Hiba Rasheed on YouTube, Twitter @hibarasheed3, Instagram @hibarasheedpoet, SoundCloud Hiba Rahsheed – Slam Poet and Facebook Hiba Rasheed – Slam Poet.