Imtiaz Dharker on Desert Island Discs
IMTIAZ DHARKER'S 2015 INTERVIEW ON DESERT ISLAND DISCS REBROADCAST ON BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA
Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, Sunday 12 July 2015, 11.15am (rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra as Desert Island Discs: Poet Castaways, Sunday 13 October 2024, 6am, 11am & 5pm)
Poet and artist Imtiaz Dharker’s interview on Desert Island Discs from July 2015 was rebroadcast on 13 October 2024 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Poet Castaways series.
Imtiaz’s conversation with host Kirsty Young led to her writing some new poems about growing up in Glasgow, and these were published in her subsequent collection Luck is the Hook (2018). Her latest collection, her seventh poetry book from Bloodaxe Books, is Shadow Reader.
Poet and artist Imtiaz Dharker’s interview on Desert Island Discs from July 2015 was rebroadcast on 13 October 2024 as part of BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Poet Castaways series.
Imtiaz’s conversation with host Kirsty Young led to her writing some new poems about growing up in Glasgow, and these were published in her subsequent collection Luck is the Hook (2018). Her latest collection, her seventh poetry book from Bloodaxe Books, is Shadow Reader.
Kirsty asked Imtiaz to speak about two of her poems: ‘Campsie Fells’ from The Terrorist at My Table and ‘Alan or David or John’ from Over the Moon - Imtiaz’s poem about the boy across the road whom she’d fallen in love with as a girl. There are also poems in Leaving Fingerprints that cover ground discussed in the interview: ‘Barkat’, about her mother’s hospitality, and ‘Green spiked hair’, about running away from home, and then later encountering her father at Heathrow airport.
Imtiaz’s eight record choices are surprising and touching, especially the recording of her then five-year-old daughter singing. This interview remains as delightful and fresh as ever. Well worth a listen if you missed the programme in 2015.
The BBC Radio 4 Extra version is available until 12 November 2024.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023xq8
The original BBC Radio 4 version remains available on BBC Sounds: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b061pgrv
A brief clip from the interview has also been posted on the Desert Island Discs webpages:
Imtiaz Dharker: ‘Poetry makes it possible to live': Poet Imtiaz Dharker on the power of words: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02wq9qp
[17 October 2024]
