Marjorie Lotfi reviews, interviews & poem features
Winner of the James Berry Poetry Prize
‘Lotfi’s imagistically rich debut collection moves from her childhood in Iran, where her family were uprooted by the revolution, to her youth in America and her current home in Scotland … Again and again her radiant language turns over the loss of family intimacy and identity caused by political upheaval and violence...’ - Rebecca Tamás, The Guardian
Marjorie Lotfi's first book-length collection, The Wrong Person to Ask, was published by Bloodaxe in October 2023. It is a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation for Winter 2023 and is a joint winner of the inaugural James Berry Poetry Prize. Marjorie took part in the James Berry Prize Winners' event on 9 November 2023 in Newcastle - scroll down for details.
The Wrong Person to Ask is a book of two halves, each a meditation on the idea of home, both the places we start and end up in our lives. Spanning a childhood in Iran dislocated by revolution, through years as a young woman in America, to Marjorie Lotfi's current home in Scotland, these poems ask what it means to come from somewhere else, what we carry with us when we leave, and how we land in a new place and finally come to rest.
Marjorie Lotfi was born in New Orleans, moved to Tehran as a baby with her American mother and Persian father, and fled Iran at hour's notice during the Iranian Revolution. She lived in different parts of the US before settling in the UK in 1999, and in Scotland in 2005. She now lives in Edinburgh.
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Marjorie Lotfi's poem 'Packing for America' from The Wrong Person to Ask is featured on Poems on the Underground posters in London Underground and Overground trains during March 2024.
See the poster here: https://poemsontheunderground.org/packing-for-america-by-marjorie-lotfi
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ONLINE REVIEW COVERAGE
DURA (Dundee University Review of the Arts), online 8 March 2024
Marjorie Lotfi’s first full collection The Wrong Person to Ask was warmly reviewed online in DURA ahead of her appearance at StAnza International Poetry Festival.
‘This debut title comes to terms with displacement and settlement—the tug of the past, linguistic heritages, absence and presence, unbelonging and alienation as much as hospitality and reciprocity between strangers—using the contours of Lotfi and her family’s journeys to put together a collection that is full of heart even as it tackles tough political themes.’ – Gail Low, DURA (Dundee University Review of the Arts)
https://dura-dundee.org.uk/2024/03/08/the-wrong-person-to-ask/
REVIEW COVERAGE
Orbis, Issue 207, Spring 2024
'... Lotfi explores turbulence. The poems are sharp, bright and lyrically intense, telling complex tales with clarity [...] In this fine book, a poet who has seen such things up close becomes a powerful speaker for the displaced, the traumatised and the lost.' – David Harmer, Orbis
In print only.
Gutter, Issue 29, Spring 2024
An excellent review of Marjorie Lotfi’s first full collection The Wrong Person to Ask is featured in the Spring 2024 issue of Scotland’s Gutter magazine.
‘Lotfi’s poetry embraces uncertainty, spanning continents and histories, often grounding itself in the wider connections between people and places ... The Wrong Person to Ask challenges us on what we expect from poetry, and poets, in an elegant and unforgettable way.’ — Sean Wai Keung, Gutter
In print only.
REVIEW COVERAGE IN THE GUARDIAN
The Guardian, Poetry Books of the Month, online Friday 3 November, in print Saturday 4 November 2023
Marjorie Lotfi’s The Wrong Person to Ask was given an excellent review in Rebecca Tamás’ November poetry round-up in The Guardian.
‘Lotfi’s imagistically rich debut collection moves from her childhood in Iran, where her family were uprooted by the revolution, to her youth in America and her current home in Scotland. Lotfi is sensitively attuned to the painful dislocation of self that can come from moving between different nations … Again and again her radiant language turns over the loss of family intimacy and identity caused by political upheaval and violence … Lotfi’s book mourns these losses and separations, while at the same time rendering the possibilities of a capacious, multifaceted sense of belonging: “And what is home if not the choice – / over and over again – to stay?”’ - Rebecca Tamás, The Guardian (Best recent poetry roundup)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/03/the-best-recent-poetry-review-roundup
POEM OF THE WEEK FEATURE IN THE GUARDIAN
The Guardian, Poem of the Week, online Monday 4 December 2023
Carol Rumens has featured ‘Picture of Girl and Small Boy (Burij, Gaza, 2014)’ from Marjorie Lotfi’s debut The Wrong Person to Ask in her online Poem of the Week column in The Guardian of 4 December. The poem was reproduced in full, followed by Carol’s commentary.
‘Marjorie Lotfi’s first full-length collection, The Wrong Person to Ask is a clear-eyed, sometimes productively reticent debut, and was one of three winners of the James Berry Poetry prize… Lotfi is a quiet and faithful witness. There is no self-indulgent introspection. She insists on seeing what she sees.’ – Carol Rumens, The Guardian (Poem of the Week)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/04/poem-of-the-week-from-the-wrong-person-to-ask-by-marjorie-lotfi
ONLINE POEM FEATURE IN BOOKS FROM SCOTLAND
BooksfromScotland, online 23 October 2023
Four powerful poems of migration and home from Marjorie Lotfi’s debut collection The Wrong Person to Ask are featured online in the autumn issue of BooksfromScotland to mark the book's publication.
The poems featured are ‘Packing for America’, ‘The Last Thing’, ‘Granddaughter, I entered your mother’s house’ and ‘The Hebridean Crab Apple’.
https://booksfromscotland.com/2023/10/the-wrong-person-to-ask/
POEM OF THE WEEK IN THE SCOTSMAN
The Scotsman, Poem of the Week, Saturday 7 October 2023
The title poem from Marjorie Lotfi’s debut collection The Wrong Person to Ask was featured as Poem of the Week in The Scotsman Magazine on 7 October.
‘The poems span her childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran, years spent in the United States and her current life in Scotland. With such a globe-spanning personal history there is, inevitably, much questioning of what constitutes home and identity.’ – The Scotsman, Poem of the Week, on The Wrong Person to Ask
In print only.
INTERVIEW WITH MARJORIE LOTFI IN THE SKINNY
The Skinny, Books interview, October 2023 issue
A full-page interview with Marjorie Lotfi is featured in the October 2023 issue of The Skinny ahead of publication of her debut collection The Wrong Person to Ask on 19 October. Marjorie moved to the UK in 1999 and settled in Scotland in 2005. She now lives in Edinburgh.
‘Against this backdrop of rigid political boundaries, Lotfi’s collection is also in intimate conversation with the natural world, a relationship which offers new ways of understanding emplacement beyond ideas of nationhood.’ - Andrés Ordorica, The Skinny, on The Wrong Person to Ask
‘Books author Marjorie Lotfi, whose new poetry collection explores ideas of place, home, migration.’
In print and online at The Skinny's website here.
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JAMES BERRY POETRY PRIZE EVENT
James Berry Prize Winners' Reading, Culture Lab, Newcastle University, Thursday 9 November 2023, 7pm
Marjorie Lotfi joined fellow winner Kaycee Hill for this special event at Newcastle University celebrating the winners of the inaugural James Berry Poetry Prize. Their readings were followed by a Q&A hosted by Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley and poet and director of the Newcastle Poetry Festival Theresa Muñoz.
The James Berry Poetry Prize is the UK’s first poetry prize offering both expert mentoring and book publication for young or emerging poets of colour. Organised by NCLA with Bloodaxe Books, and supported by special funding from Arts Council England, the prize was launched in April 2021. Marjorie Lotfi and Kaycee Hill won the inaugural prize in 2021 jointly with Yvette Siegert, whose debut will be published by Bloodaxe in 2025.
Marjorie Lotfi reads from The Wrong Person to Ask at Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts
Marjorie read from her new collection at this launch event in November 2023, celebrating the winners of the inaugural James Berry Poetry Prize.
For details of Marjorie's other forthcoming events, see: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/events?articleid=1290
BBC RADIO SCOTLAND RADIO INTERVIEW
Marjorie Lotfi was interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland's Sunday Morning show on 1 October 2023, broadcast live in front of an audience at Wigtown Book Festival. She read three poems from her debut collection The Wrong Person to Ask and discussed them and the background to the book with host Zara Janjua. The poems she read were ‘Maman Bozorg’, ‘The Game’ and ‘The Hebridean Crab Apple’.
No longer available on BBC Sounds, but details are below. Majorie featured at 1:03:18, 1:30:30 (on her children’s book), 1:35.00 and 1:52:12.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001r0zx
[11 October 2023]
