The PEN Club in Japan announced its support for the poetic protest of “BaamaDaad_ House of Poetry in Exile” against the ban on poetry and art in Afghanistan.
On January 15, 2023, a ban on writing poetry was issued by the Taliban, which prevented poets from writing poems and songs(lyrics).
Somaya Ramesh, a poet who took refuge in the Netherlands after the fall of Afghanistan, founded “BaamDaad_House of Poetry in Exile” in response to this ban.
Ramesh wrote on her account on social networks: “Please write a poem and send it to me in protest against the ban on poetry and art in Afghanistan.”
In response to this request, more than one hundred poems were received from Japan and other countries of the world.
Somaya Ramesh, the founder of BaamDaad-House of Poetry in Exile, says about this: “The first version of this collection, which is titled “No Prisoner Can Enclose Poetry”, was translated into Japanese on August 15, 2023, coinciding with the second year of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. It was published in Japan.
According to Ramesh, the French version of the book will be published in France in November.
On September 25, 2023, the Japan Pen club announced its support for BaamDaad-House of Poetry in Exile, and said: “Poetry is the freedom of thinking and the basis of literary expression. We support the movement created by Somaya Ramesh against the ban on art in Afghanistan and respect the poets around the world who participated in the protest against the ban on art in Afghanistan and support of freedom of expression.
