Daljit Nagra

Daljit Nagra 2007

Daljit Nagra (born 1966)[1] is a British poet whose debut collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover! — a title alluding to W. H. Auden's Look, Stranger!, D. H. Lawrence's Look! We have come through! and by epigraph also to Matthew Arnold's 'Dover Beach' — was published by Faber in February 2007. His poems relate to the experience of British-born Indians (especially Indian Sikhs), and often employ language that imitates the English spoken by Indian immigrants whose first language is Punjabi, which some have termed 'Punglish'.[2] He currently works part-time at JFS School in Kenton and visits schools, universities and festivals where he performs his work.

In 2004 he won the Forward Poetry Prize for best single poem for Look We Have Coming to Dover!. Nagra's debut collection, which takes the same title, has received extremely positive reviews, has been featured on television and radio, including the prominent BBC programme Newsnight Review,[3] and won the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize for best first collection.[4]

Daljit Nagra also participated as a judge during the 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize[5] and is a judge for the 2010 Manchester Poetry Prize.[6]

Nagra's first pamphlet Oh MY Rub! (Smith/Doorstop) was the Poetry Book Society's first ever PBS Pamphlet Choice in 2003. His debut collection was published in 2007 and it won the South Bank Show Decibel Award, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was nominated for The Costa Prize, The Guardian First Book Prize, the Aldeburgh Prize and the Glen Dimplex Award. His second collection, Tippoo Sultan’s Incredible White-Man Eating Tiger-Toy Machine!!! was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. His current book, Ramayana, is shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. In 2014 he won the Royal Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship Award.

Daljit’s poems have been published in New Yorker, Atlantic Review, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Poetry Review, Poetry London, Poetry International, Rialto and The North.

He has performed at venues such as Banff, Calgary, Toronto, Bratislava, Galle, Mumbai, Delhi, Orkney, Belfast, Dublin, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Heidelberg, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Ty Newydd and many places in England.

Daljit has been on the Board of the Poetry Book Society and the Poetry Archive. He has judged the Samuel Johnson Award 2008, The Guardian First Book Prize 2008, The Foyles Young Poets Competition 2008, The National Poetry Competition 2009, the Costa Poetry category and the overall winner in 2012. He has also hosted the TS Eliot Poetry Readings 2009. He is the Keats’ House Poet-In-Residence from July 2014 – June 2015, and he was an Eton College Wisdom Scholar in November 2014. He is the Lead Poetry Tutor at The Faber Academy and has run workshops all over the world. He is a regular contributor to BBC radio and has written articles for The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Observer, The Times of India.

References

  1. ↑ "Biography". Daljit Nagra. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  2. ↑ Do you speak Punglish?, BBC Online, 29 September 2005, accessed 26 August 2007
  3. ↑ Literature: Daljit Nagra 'Look We Have Coming to Dover!', Newsnight Review, 19 January 2007, accessed 20 January 2007
  4. ↑ John Ezard, Guardian award highlights good year for first-time writers, The Guardian, 24 August 2007, accessed 26 August 2007
  5. ↑ Higgins, Charlotte (2008-07-16). "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher wins Samuel Johnson prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  6. ↑ "Competition judges". Manchester Poetry Prize. Manchester Metropolitan University. Retrieved 17 September 2010.

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