Imtiaz Dharker in The Conversation

Imtiaz Dharker in The Conversation

The Conversation, BBC World Service, Monday 4 April 2016

Poet Imtiaz Dharker joins writer and performance artist Phillippa Yaa de Villiers in The Conversation, the BBC World Service series which brings together two women from two cultures and invites them to speak about the passions that have shaped their lives. 

Imtiaz Dharker is a poet, artist and film maker. Born in Pakistan, Imtiaz was brought up in Scotland before she eloped to India aged 20, becoming estranged from her family. She feels that it is important that poets don't get too comfortable in any one place and describes forging her life in 'the cracks in-between'. Imtiaz picks up words that inspire her poetry from her surroundings, sometimes overheard, she jots these down on a paper napkin or whatever is to hand. She now lives in the UK and in 2014 she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for her collection Over the Moon. Her advice to aspiring poets is to read a lot and find your own voice.  During the course of the conversation Imtiaz was asked to read her poem 'Honour killing' from her 2001 collection I Speak for the Devil.  Her latest collection is Over the Moon (Bloodaxe Books, 2014).

Phillippa Yaa de Villiers is an award winning South African writer and performance artist. Phillippa, who is mixed race, was adopted as a baby by a white couple but did not learn of her adoption until she became involved in anti-apartheid politics whilst attending University. Negotiating this newfound racial identity has informed much of her writing. She discusses her inspirations and the journey to becoming a writer, why she found it hard to initially call herself a poet and how South Africa is a country blossoming with poetry.

Click here to listen to the programme


[04 April 2016]


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