Main content

Imtiaz Dharker

Kirsty Young interviews the poet Imtiaz Dharker.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the poet and artist, Imtiaz Dharker.

Winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for her work, her life seems a perfect reflection of the inter-relatedness of The Commonwealth. Born in Pakistan she was no more than a few months old when the family packed up their belongings and flew four thousand miles to start a new life - exchanging the blistering, dusty lanes of Lahore for the blustery, rain-slicked roads of Glasgow.

Her father worked hard and, from scratch, built a big, successful business and a comfortable life for his children. But the immigrant fairytale came undone when his restless, well-educated, westernised daughter married in secret, running away to Bombay. Her parents disowned her and she would never see her mother again.

Her work centres on themes of freedom, cultural intolerance, everyday life and gender politics.

Available now

36 minutes

Last on

Fri 17 Jul 2015 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Freddie Flintoff

Next

Noel Gallagher

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Clip

Music Played

  • Sachal Studios Orchestra

    Take Five

    • Sachal Jazz - Interpretations of Jazz Standards & Bossa Nova.
    • Sachal Music.

  • Donald O’Connor & Gene Kelly

    Moses Supposes from Singin' in the Rain

    • SinginΒ’ in the Rain.
    • Warner.

  • Shankar Mahadevan

    Breathless

    • Breathe Free with Shankar Mahadevan.
    • Saregama.

  • Ayesha Dharker

    Charara charara maro chakro chale

    • Vistara..
    • PRIVATE RECORDING.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for Organ

    Performer: Klemens Schnorr.
    • The 99 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music.
    • X5 Music Group.

  • Antony

    If It be Your Will

    • I'm Your Man.
    • Universal.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Night Mail

    Performer: John Grierson. Performer: Stuart Legg.
    • Night Mail - 1936.
    • GPO Film Unit..

  • CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE

    • Ronald Binge

      Sailing By into the Shipping Forecast

      Read by Luke Tuddenham

      • NOT COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE..
      • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ARCHIVE - 5 May 2015.

  • BOOK CHOICE

    An atlas of the whole world

  • LUXURY ITEM

    The Victoria and Albert Museum in London

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Imtiaz Dharker
Producer Sarah Taylor

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Jul 2015 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 17 Jul 2015 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast