Imtiaz Dharker

Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 2014

Poetry Book Society Special Commendation

Shadow Reader is a radiant criss-cross of encounters, messages and Punjabi proverbs, shot through with the dark thread of an unwelcome prophecy. The poems bind this looming curse to the occupation of countries, the earth and its creatures, those who own the story and those who redirect it through art or artifice. ‘Does the warp look back at the one who is weaving and say, This is not how I remember it…?’

Imtiaz Dharker’s collection pays attention to wilful erasures, exclusions and also to places of sanctuary. This is poetry as music, as momentum, as the texture and taste of languages, joyously sensuous and rich in images. While it acknowledges the everyday and its shadows, it is also an irreverent, playful celebration of life.

Imtiaz Dharker grew up a 'Muslim Calvinist' in a Lahori household in Glasgow, was adopted by India and married into Wales. She was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry 2014 for her fifth collection Over the Moon and for her services to poetry. Her main themes are drawn from a life of transitions: childhood, exile, journeying, home, displacement, religious strife and terror, and latterly, grief. She is also an accomplished artist, and all her collections are illustrated with her drawings, which form an integral part of her books.

With 16 black and white drawings

'Weaving between her distinctive illustrations and powerful poems, Dharker expresses the most profound concern for humanity.' – Jo Clement, PBS Selector, Poetry Book Society Summer Bulletin 2024, on Shadow Reader

'If you’re not a regular reader of poetry, Imtiaz Dharker gives you a place to start. Shadow Reader, her seventh collection from Bloodaxe, is not only easily accessible, but also hauntingly relevant in this time of war and displacement [...] With clever but not intrusive rhyme and rhythm these are poems to read aloud. And while there’s no hiding from the world’s reality [...] ultimately Dharker’s poetry is a gesture of hope.' – Graeme Richardson, The Sunday Times (Summer poetry)

‘... her new collection Shadow Reader [...] nods to exclusions and erasures, as well as being a playful celebration of life in all its glory; full of joyous language and rich imagery.’ – The Scotsman, Poem of the Week

‘…terrific, transcendent poems, which go from grit to heart, sorrow to song, and all between. It’s a stunner of a collection…’ – Mab Jones, Buzz Magazine, on Shadow Reader

‘Imtiaz Dharker's Shadow Reader is a joy. I admire poetry which draws on the political. Imtiaz's poems do this so well […] Her work always comes from a fresh angle […] Poetry of empathy, love & revelation.’ – Katrina Naomi, Short & Sweet (Recommended Read for July 2024)

'The motif of weaving holds together form and theme with a tantalising sense of skilful improvisation, nowhere more so than in ‘Loom’ where the women’s art is intensely embodied [...] Shadow Reader is a thought-provoking, delightful collection from the skilled hands of an expert weaver.' – Theresa Sowerby, Orbis

'Dharker never offers easy solutions or conclusions, but towards the end of the collection there’s a sense of looking back on something hard-won, of not only the Shadow Reader, but other assumptions too, being proved wrong. 'You are', one of the last poems in the book, pulls what is an outstanding collection together beautifully and movingly:'  – Matt Merritt, Magma

‘Here is poetry that is truly beguiling – not least because you want to read and reread each poem to mine the different layers. It is complex, without ever putting up any barriers. It can be devastatingly frank without being simplistic. It is funny, defiant, clever and tender writing. This is one book I am not lending to anyone; please buy your own copy!’ – Hannah Stone, The Lake, on Shadow Reader

‘As an accomplished artist with her work exhibited internationally, the drawings here are in fastidious detail, woven with fine lines, while the diminutive specks compose a play of light. Their metaphorical images make an artistic statement and complement their relevant poems. The poise radiates continuance, command, and composure.’ – Yogesh Patel, World Literature Today, on Shadow Reader

‘Imtiaz Dharker’s poetry shines a light in the dark. She is interested in how things work, in art, in history, in politics… You cannot hear her perform without being somehow transformed by the experience. Witty, wise, profound and moving, her work crosses continents.’ – Jackie Kay, The Guardian

'Luck is the Hook by Imtiaz Dharker is my stand-out book of poetry this year. Lyrical with a compassionate humanity, Dharker’s poems have a piercing, deceptive simplicity of image and language, particularly the poems about the loss of her husband and her bereavement...Her poems have great musicality, written for the ear as much as the page. A striking performer, it is particularly pleasurable to hear her read. A talented artist, her repetition of concepts or images in new contexts weaving throughout the book is a technique echoed in the black and white drawings illustrating the book, their delicacy and simplicity of tonal patterns evoking the essence of each poem’s theme. An exquisite, deeply moving collection.' – Stephanie Green, Glasgow Review of Books (Reads of the Year, 2018)

‘This is a passionate, uplifting collection of poems about language, love and loss, grief and joy, elegy and celebration. The loss of a great love makes poems of piercing beauty. In her finest book to date, Imtiaz Dharker finds resolution in language itself, and in a world the more loved for the sharpness of loss.’ – Gillian Clarke [on Over the Moon]

'Imtiaz Dharker's new collection is the crown to a celebratory, humane, wholly utterable, subtly crafted poetry. Its dark jewels are the magnificent poems of bereavement, which will surely endure. Reading her, one feels that were there to be a World Laureate, Imtiaz Dharker would be the only candidate.' – Carol Ann Duffy [on Over the Moon]

Imtiaz Dharker: Shadow Reader

Imtiaz Dharker reads and introduces a selection of poems from Shadow Reader. All her poetry collections are illustrated with her drawings, which form an integral part of the books; she is one of very few poet-artists to work in this way. This video includes some of the drawings from Shadow Reader showing their visual connections with particular poems from the book. Neil Astley filmed her reading from her new collection at her home in London in January ahead of the book’s publication in May 2024.

Imtiaz Dharker launches Shadow Reader in Newcastle

Imtiaz Dharker read a selection of poems from Shadow Reader at Newcastle Poetry Festival in May 2024.

Imtiaz Dharker: ‘Speech Balloon’ and other poems

Imtiaz Dharker reads ‘Speech Balloon’ and nine other poems from four of her seven collections published by Bloodaxe: ‘Speech Balloon’ from Over the Moon; ‘Dealing with the devil’ from I speak for the devil; ‘Trust’ and ‘Purdah 1’ from Postcards from god; ‘A Century Later’ from Over the Moon; ‘Chaudhri Sher Mobarik looks at the loch’ from Luck is the Hook; ‘In Wales, wanting to be Italian’ and ‘Undone’ from Over the Moon; and ‘The trick’ and ‘This Tide of Humber’ from Luck is the Hook. Neil Astley filmed Imtiaz Dharker reading poems from her books at her home in London in January 2024.

Imtiaz Dharker at Newcastle Poetry Festival 2023

Imtiaz Dharker reads the poem 'Chaudhri Sher Mobarik Looks at the Loch' from Luck is the Hook, followed by 'Undone' from Over the Moon, and then ‘The Trick’, also from Luck is the Hook. The rest of the reading features several new poems from Shadow Reader.

Imtiaz Dharker reads five poems

Imtiaz Dharker reads five poems: 'Blessing' from Postcards from god, 'Honour killing' and 'They'll say, "She must be from another country"' from I Speak for the Devil, and 'The terrorist at my table' and 'How to cut a pomegranate' from The terrorist at my table. This film is from the DVD-book In Person: 30 Poets (2008), filmed by Pamela Robertson-Pearce, edited by Neil Astley, which includes five poems read by Imtiaz Dharker selected from her first three Bloodaxe titles. 

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