Poetry International 23 - 26 July 2015 London, England

'A poem is a sword. It's our form of resistance.' (Sahera Sharif).

Poetry from around the world illuminating "poetry's enduring ability to anticipate and envision change and transcend barriers of censorship, prejudice and conflict". Poets include Imtiaz Dharker, Jo Shapcott, Aamir Iqbal and Kei Miller.

Lots of good and challenging content but out of many options, a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon (26th July) is Sex in the Afternoon with Kei Miller, Malika Booker, Warsan Shire, plus Rachel Mars as they share "poetry and prose exploring sex in all its pain and glory". Plus a Q&A session with historian of sexuality Dr Jana Funke.

Find out more here http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/poetry-international

Imtiaz Dharker tweet poetry

Born in Lahore in 1954, Imtiaz Dharker is a Scottish Muslim, poet, artist and documentary film-maker. She grew up in Glasgow and now divides her time between London and Mumbai. She writes in English. She has written three books of poetry, conceived as sequences of poems and drawings.

This tweet poetry At the Lahore Karhai is from a poem about food, place, migration and home.

poetandgeek poetandgeek.com 

we’re truckers of another kind looking hopefully years away from Sialkot and Chandigarh for the taste of our mothers hand in the cooking

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You can find the full poem here http://www.poetryinternational.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=2818 and it is from Imtiaz's book I Speak for the Devil Publisher: Penguin Books India, 2003 ISBN: 014-303089-2. She also has a great website detailing her many activities here http://www.imtiazdharker.com/.