Egypt’s Eskenderella band and poet Amin Haddad are scheduled to participate in a poetry and music evening titled “El Waqt Saraqna” (Time has ran out) on Friday, 26 August at El-Sawy Culturewheel. 

Founded in 2005 by oud master and singer Hazem Shaheen, Eskenderella started playing in underground venues in Egypt before they became widely recognised, “shifting between revivals of the nation's classic tunes and ventures into new compositions,” reads their bio section on to their official Facebook page.

Some of Eskenderella’s inspirations include famous Egyptian musicians Sayyed Darwish and Sheikh Imam as well as colloquial poets Salah Jaheen, Fouad Haddad,  and Ahmed Fouad Negm.

Besides delivering covers of folkloric songs, Eskenderella also have a regular repertoire of popular originals.

Born in 1958, renowned colloquial poet Amin Haddad, who is also one of Eskenderella’s main inspirations, is co-founder of Ferqat Al-Sharea (The Street Troupe), dedicated to vernacular poetry performances and first established in 2000.

The son of  'Father of all poets'  Fouad Haddad, Amin nurtured a passion for poetry since an early age, leading him to start composing at the age of 23.

He has published many books of poetry, including Rihet El Habayeb (The scent of the beloved, 1990), Halawet El Rouh (The sweetness of the spirit, 1998), Fi El Mot Haneish" (In death we live, 2003) and Badal Fa’ed" (The re-make of an identity, 2008), Min Al Watan Ela Al Gannah (From Homeland to Paradise, 2012), Gezirat Al-Ahyaa (The Island of the Living, 2014), among others.

Haddad was awarded the International Cavafy Poetry Prize in 2011.

Programme:
Friday 26 August, 8pm
El-Sawy Culturewheel,  26^th of July Street, Zamalek, Cairo
 

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