The Summoning

Cover blurb

The Summoning draws extensively on Abdullah Mohammed’s poetry written over a period of twenty-nine years. It shows the process of a poetry underpinning African history, the oppression of people from the Diaspora, nature, love, and about his Creator and religious beliefs; which all relate to his healing process in life.

Abdullah Ali Mohammed is 60 and lives in London. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2006 and wrote the ‘Summoning’ to record his life story in poetry in order to de-stigmatise mental ill-health and focus on the human achievement element of a person. He began writing poetry in the 1970’s as a way of managing his depressive symptoms and moving towards a therapeutic self-healing process. Abdullah is a creative-words group facilitator and public speaker.

In 2011 Ali won the Korsetler Award – ‘anthology of poetry’ and also won first prize in 2008. He is an innovative educational poet.

“Being a mental health sufferer since 2006, I feel that I have survived many obstacles, and writing poetry was the only way that therapeutically gave me the ability to express myself and take solace in my life.”

Ali Mohammed