I Speak for the Devil

Imtiaz Dharker

ISBN 10: 1852245697 / ISBN 13: 9781852245696

Published by Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 2001

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: I Speak for the Devil
• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852245697
• ISBN 13: 9781852245696
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Used; Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry 2014

Imtiaz Dharker's cultural experience spans three countries. Born in Pakistan, she grew up in Glasgow, and now divides her time between Bombay and London. It is from this life of transitions that she draws her themes: childhood, exile, journeying, home and religious strife.

In I Speak for the Devil, the woman's body is a territory, a thing that is possessed, owned by herself or by another. Her sequence, They'll say, 'She must be from another country' traces a journey, starting with a striptease where the claims of nationality, religion and gender are cast off, to allow an exploration of new territories, the spaces between countries, cultures and religions.

The title-sequence speaks for the devil in acknowledging that in many societies women are respected, or listened to, only when they are carrying someone else inside their bodies - a child; a devil. For some, to be "possessed" is to be set free.

About the Author

Imtiaz Dharker grew up a 'Muslim Calvinist' in a Lahori household in Glasgow, was adopted by India and married into Wales. She is an accomplished artist and video filmmaker, and has seven poetry books with Bloodaxe, Postcards from god (including Purdah) (1997), I Speak for the Devil (2001), The terrorist at my table (2006), Leaving Fingerprints (2009), Over the Moon (2014), Luck Is the Hook (2018), and Shadow Reader (2024), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. All her poetry collections are illustrated with her drawings, which form an integral part of the books; she is one of very few poet-artists to work in this way. She was awarded The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for 2014, presented to her by HM Queen Elizabeth in 2015, and has also received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Over the Moon was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 2014. Her poems are on the British GCSE and A Level English syllabus, and she reads with other poets at Poetry Live! events all over the country to more than 35,000 students a year. She has had a dozen solo exhibitions of drawings in India, London, Leeds, New York and Hong Kong. She scripts and directs films, many of them for non-government organisations in India, working in the area of shelter, education and health for women and children. In 2015 she appeared on the iconic BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. In 2020 she was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University. She lives in London.