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| Daljit Nagra |
Daljit Nagra
Few contemporary poets are household names, but Daljit Nagra, winner of the 2004 Forward Poetry Prize for Best Single Poem, is well on the way. His first collection of poems, ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’ has just been published by Faber – home to TS Eliot and Philip Larkin.
Not bad for a thirtysomething teacher from Dollis Hill. ‘It was a circuitous route to get to poetry,’ says Nagra. ‘I was trying to fulfil the expectations of my parents to become a doctor but I wasn’t really interested enough.’ The experience wasn’t wasted though, as these pressures have become a key theme in his work. Nagra’s parents moved to England from the Punjab in the 1950s and he was born and raised in London before moving with his family in his teens to Sheffield, where they owned a corner shop.
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Nagra’s poems draw on situations, memories and characters from his Anglo-Indian background. ‘Some of the poems are my own personal stories about what I’ve become. Have I lost my identity or am I still very Asian? I want to question those things.’
Despite the weighty subject matter, Nagra’s work is anything but earnest. In his hands, slang is turned on its head and familiar words energised with new meanings. The title poem, about the arrival of illegal immigrants, sparkles with description: ‘…thunder unbladders/Yobbish rain and wind on our escape hutched in a Bedford van.’ By his own admission, Nagra has less to do with the Asian community now than he did when he was growing up (‘I don’t lead a massively Indian life’), but it’s perhaps his distance from the community that allows him to see it with such clarity. ‘I want to put down some brown stuff on to that white page,’ he says. ‘Cultural identity is one of the serious issues of our age.’
Fiona McAuslan
‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’ is published by Faber at £8.99.
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9 comments
Yeah, it's definitely a recommended read. I certainly don't agree with everything this KJ Rolling person has to write, but you can't deny there is much wisdom and common sense in the book, if you can read without prejudice.
So tell me, Spambuster, name the sections that you disliked most of all. Failure to do so only confirms my suspicion that you are an aggrieved little person who has an axe to grind with the said author of this book of the decade.
the books is shyte, i want my money back. dont buy it, it is seriously rubbish
I don't know who this KJ Rolling geezer is, but he (or she) produces many gems about the Tower Of London and loyalist band parades. I liked the item about the monarchy, while the mock commercials are quite amusing.
What's Kerry's problem? Is he/she riddled with angst at having a bi-sexual name? It's a belter of a book.
Yeah, the KJ Rolling book is definitely not dull. It is quite amusing and provocative which probably explains why Kerry was not so impressed - the poor dear.
I have just read 'How To Commit Suicide In Ten Easy Steps' and it is certainly not a dull read. Okay so the title is a bit risque, but there are so many thought-provoking bit-sized items to keep any reader amused or antagonised.
I read it , its a load of cr@p
I submitted more than two weeks ago a book for a possible review to John O'Connell, but have not had the courtesy of a reply. Could someone return my book, entitled 'How To Commit Suicide In Ten Easy Steps' by KJ Rolling, unless you need more time, which is fine.
Disappointed
KJ Rolling