Shadow Reader

Shadow Reader is a radiant criss-cross of encounters, messages and earthy Punjabi proverbs, shot through with the dark thread of an unwelcome prophecy. The poems bind this looming curse to the colonisation of countries, the earth and its creatures, those who own the story and those who redirect it through art or artifice.

Beautifully illustrated in Imtiaz Dharker''s distinctive style, Shadow Reader is a radiant criss-cross of encounters, messages and earthy Punjabi proverbs, shot through with the dark thread of an unwelcome prophecy. 

Imtiaz Dharker’s new collection pays attention to wilful erasures, exclusions and also to places of sanctuary. This is poetry as music, as momentum, as the texture and taste of languages, joyously sensuous and rich in images. While it acknowledges the everyday and its shadows, it is also an irreverent, playful celebration of life.

Dharker''s main themes, drawn from a life of transitions, are explored with new depth: childhood, exile, journeying, home, displacement, religious strife and terror, and latterly, grief. An accomplished visual artist, the collection includes many of her drawings, which form an integral part of the work.

• | Author: Imtiaz Dharker
• | Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd
• | Publication Date: May 23, 2024
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781780377094
• | ISBN-10: 1780377096