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Shadow Reader
Beautifully illustrated in Imtiaz Dharker's distinctive style, Shadow Reader is a radiant criss-cross of encounters, messages and earthy Punjabi proverbs, shot through with the dark thread of an unwelcome prophecy.
Imtiaz Dharker’s new 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.
Dharker's main themes, drawn from a life of transitions, are explored with new childhood, exile, journeying, home, displacement, religious strife and terror, and latterly, grief. An accomplished visual artist, the collection includes many of her drawings, which form an integral part of the work.
Imtiaz Dharker’s new 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.
Dharker's main themes, drawn from a life of transitions, are explored with new childhood, exile, journeying, home, displacement, religious strife and terror, and latterly, grief. An accomplished visual artist, the collection includes many of her drawings, which form an integral part of the work.
- GenresPoetry
152 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 23, 2024
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Imtiaz Dharker
20 books40 followersImtiaz Dharker (Born 1954) is a Scottish Muslim poet, artist and documentary film-maker.
She was born in Lahore to Pakistani parents. She was brought up in Glasgow where her family moved when she was less than a year old. She was married to Simon Powell, the founder of the organization Poetry Live, who passed away in October 2009 after surviving cancer for eleven years. Dharker divides her time between London, Wales, and Mumbai. She says she describes herself as a "Scottish Muslim Calvinist". Her daughter Ayesha Dharker, {whose father is Anil Dharker}, is a well known actress in international films, TV and stage.
As of 2010 she has written five books of poetry Purdah (1989), Postcards from God (1997), I Speak for the Devil (2001), The Terrorist at my Table (2006) and Leaving Fingerprints (2009) (all self-illustrated).
She is a prescribed poet on the British AQA GCSE English syllabus. Her poems 'Blessing' and 'This Room' are included in AQA Anthology, Different Cultures, Cluster 1 and 2 respectively.
The main themes of her poetry include home, freedom, journeys, geographical and cultural displacement, communal conflict and gender politics. All her books are published by the poetry publishing house Bloodaxe. Purdah And Other Poems deal with the various aspects of a Muslim woman's life where she experiences injustice, oppression and violence engineered through the culture of purdah.
She was part of the judging panel for the 2008 Manchester Poetry Prize, with Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke. For many she is seen as one of Britain's most inspirational contemporary poets.
Dharker is also a documentary film-maker and has scripted and directed over a hundred films and audio-visuals, centring on education, reproductive health and shelter for women and children. In 1980 she was awarded a Silver Lotus for a short film. An accomplished artist, she has had nine solo exhibitions of pen-and-ink drawings.
She was born in Lahore to Pakistani parents. She was brought up in Glasgow where her family moved when she was less than a year old. She was married to Simon Powell, the founder of the organization Poetry Live, who passed away in October 2009 after surviving cancer for eleven years. Dharker divides her time between London, Wales, and Mumbai. She says she describes herself as a "Scottish Muslim Calvinist". Her daughter Ayesha Dharker, {whose father is Anil Dharker}, is a well known actress in international films, TV and stage.
As of 2010 she has written five books of poetry Purdah (1989), Postcards from God (1997), I Speak for the Devil (2001), The Terrorist at my Table (2006) and Leaving Fingerprints (2009) (all self-illustrated).
She is a prescribed poet on the British AQA GCSE English syllabus. Her poems 'Blessing' and 'This Room' are included in AQA Anthology, Different Cultures, Cluster 1 and 2 respectively.
The main themes of her poetry include home, freedom, journeys, geographical and cultural displacement, communal conflict and gender politics. All her books are published by the poetry publishing house Bloodaxe. Purdah And Other Poems deal with the various aspects of a Muslim woman's life where she experiences injustice, oppression and violence engineered through the culture of purdah.
She was part of the judging panel for the 2008 Manchester Poetry Prize, with Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke. For many she is seen as one of Britain's most inspirational contemporary poets.
Dharker is also a documentary film-maker and has scripted and directed over a hundred films and audio-visuals, centring on education, reproductive health and shelter for women and children. In 1980 she was awarded a Silver Lotus for a short film. An accomplished artist, she has had nine solo exhibitions of pen-and-ink drawings.
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December 1, 2024I really liked these poems (and my sense of how they ought to be read was enhanced, having heard the poet read aloud at a festival earlier this year).
This is not so much a review, but I've tried my hand at translating one of these poems from English into Urdu. The original English poem is 'I find Faiz Blowing on his Saucer of Tea'. I translated into Urdu, and below, you find it in Nagri as well as Naskh.
طشتری میں چائے کو پھونک مارتے ہوئے مجھے فیض مل گئے۔
طشتری میں چائے کو پھونک مارتے ہوئے مجھے فیض مل گئے
پڑوس کی دکان میں.
فیض چچا، میں نے کہا، اپنا پرانا محلہ پہچان میں نہیں آتا۔
مکان مالک نے کرایہ بڑھا دیا
اور جن لوگوں کو ہم جانتے تھے، سب چلے گئے۔
اکال میں اجڑنے کو آپ کا باغ چھوڑ آئے۔
کسی نے آپ کی کتابیں طاق سے اتاریں
اور دوبارہ چھاپ دیں الفاظ بغیر۔
ساری کوئلیں اٹھا لی گئیں اور پنجروں میں بند کر دی گئیں۔
وہ گلوکار جو آپ کے نغمے گایا کرتے تھے
سامعین کے سامنے ہی ان کے گلے دبا دیے گئے۔
فیض نے طشتری اٹھا لی اور چائے پی۔
جب دل بھر جائے، وہ زمین کا چہرہ
چیر دیتا ہے۔
تم اسے دکھ کہتی ہو،
میں اسے امید کا ایک پھول۔
انہوں نے کہا، مجھے ایسا لگا مگر
شاید مجھ سے سننے میں کوئی غلطی ہوئی ہو۔
ہو سکتا ہے ترجمے میں ان کے الفاظ
الٹے ہو گئے ہوں۔
- Imtiaz Dharkar/Tr. Annie Zaidi
Many thanks to Saif Mahmood for discussion on a couple of tricky lines, and for correcting any mistakes he found in my Urdu spellings.
तश्तरी में चाय को फूंक मारते, मुझे फ़ैज़ मिल गए
पड़ोस की दुकान में
फ़ैज़ चचा, मैंने कहा,अपना पुराना मोहल्ला पहचान में नहीं आता
मकान मालिक ने किराया बढ़ा दिया
और जिन लोगों को हम जानते थे, सब चले गए
अकाल में उजड़ने को आपका बाग़ छोड़ आए
किसी ने आपकी किताबें ताक़ से उतारीं
और दोबारा छाप दीं अल्फाज़ बग़ैर
सारी कोइलें उठा ली गईं और पिंजरों में डाल दी गईं
जो गुलुकार आपके नग़मे गाया करते थे
सामाइन के सामने ही उनके गले दबा दिए गए
फ़ैज़ ने तश्तरी उठा ली और चाय पी
जब दिल भरा हो, वो ज़मीन का चेहरा
चीर देता है
तुम इसे दुःख कहती हो
मैं इसे उम्मीद का एक फूल
उन्होंने कहा, मुझे ऐसा लगा मगर
शायद मुझसे सुनने में गलती हुई हो
हो सकता है तर्जुमे में उनके अल्फाज़
उल्टे हो गए हों ।
[From Imtiaz Dharkar's 'Shadow Reader', page 79]
This is not so much a review, but I've tried my hand at translating one of these poems from English into Urdu. The original English poem is 'I find Faiz Blowing on his Saucer of Tea'. I translated into Urdu, and below, you find it in Nagri as well as Naskh.
طشتری میں چائے کو پھونک مارتے ہوئے مجھے فیض مل گئے۔
طشتری میں چائے کو پھونک مارتے ہوئے مجھے فیض مل گئے
پڑوس کی دکان میں.
فیض چچا، میں نے کہا، اپنا پرانا محلہ پہچان میں نہیں آتا۔
مکان مالک نے کرایہ بڑھا دیا
اور جن لوگوں کو ہم جانتے تھے، سب چلے گئے۔
اکال میں اجڑنے کو آپ کا باغ چھوڑ آئے۔
کسی نے آپ کی کتابیں طاق سے اتاریں
اور دوبارہ چھاپ دیں الفاظ بغیر۔
ساری کوئلیں اٹھا لی گئیں اور پنجروں میں بند کر دی گئیں۔
وہ گلوکار جو آپ کے نغمے گایا کرتے تھے
سامعین کے سامنے ہی ان کے گلے دبا دیے گئے۔
فیض نے طشتری اٹھا لی اور چائے پی۔
جب دل بھر جائے، وہ زمین کا چہرہ
چیر دیتا ہے۔
تم اسے دکھ کہتی ہو،
میں اسے امید کا ایک پھول۔
انہوں نے کہا، مجھے ایسا لگا مگر
شاید مجھ سے سننے میں کوئی غلطی ہوئی ہو۔
ہو سکتا ہے ترجمے میں ان کے الفاظ
الٹے ہو گئے ہوں۔
- Imtiaz Dharkar/Tr. Annie Zaidi
Many thanks to Saif Mahmood for discussion on a couple of tricky lines, and for correcting any mistakes he found in my Urdu spellings.
तश्तरी में चाय को फूंक मारते, मुझे फ़ैज़ मिल गए
पड़ोस की दुकान में
फ़ैज़ चचा, मैंने कहा,अपना पुराना मोहल्ला पहचान में नहीं आता
मकान मालिक ने किराया बढ़ा दिया
और जिन लोगों को हम जानते थे, सब चले गए
अकाल में उजड़ने को आपका बाग़ छोड़ आए
किसी ने आपकी किताबें ताक़ से उतारीं
और दोबारा छाप दीं अल्फाज़ बग़ैर
सारी कोइलें उठा ली गईं और पिंजरों में डाल दी गईं
जो गुलुकार आपके नग़मे गाया करते थे
सामाइन के सामने ही उनके गले दबा दिए गए
फ़ैज़ ने तश्तरी उठा ली और चाय पी
जब दिल भरा हो, वो ज़मीन का चेहरा
चीर देता है
तुम इसे दुःख कहती हो
मैं इसे उम्मीद का एक फूल
उन्होंने कहा, मुझे ऐसा लगा मगर
शायद मुझसे सुनने में गलती हुई हो
हो सकता है तर्जुमे में उनके अल्फाज़
उल्टे हो गए हों ।
[From Imtiaz Dharkar's 'Shadow Reader', page 79]
August 23, 2024
Only my second of Dharkers collections and this one didn't gel quite as well. That said, an incredibly well thought out series of poems that flow together perfectly.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews