Imtiaz Dharker

Imtiaz Dharker 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 died in October 2009 after surviving for eleven years with cancer. 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 , Postcards from God , I speak for the Devil , The Terrorist at my Table and Leaving Fingerprints . She is a prescribed poet on the British AQA GCSE English syllabus. Her poems Blessing and This Room are included 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.
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