麻豆约拍

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the 麻豆约拍's poetry archive and selects Pick a Sky and Name It featuring successful millennial poet Momtaza Mehri from Somalia.

How did Momtaza Mehri go from net savvy 6th former to successful millennial poet?

A house belonging to her grandmother is the closest poet Momtaza Mehri has ever come to having a permanent home. Aside from summer months in London, Momtaza鈥檚 family picked its way across the Middle East.

鈥淭hen I just realise, I鈥檓 having this typical Somali experience where we鈥檙e literally going to the places that would be considered the bad 鈥榟oods.鈥�

Across a sea, another gulf, was the country her parents no longer called home.

Talking with her mother, Momtaza revisits the childhood experiences that shaped her outlook and her coming of age as a millennial poet.

Poetry extracts are taken from:
I believe in the transformative power of cocoa butter and breakfast cereal in the afternoon
Manifesto for those carrying dusk under their eyes
The Sag
Shan
Wink Wink
November 1997

鈥淭he internet just switched up the entire game,鈥� Momtaza says.

Producer: Tamsin Hughes

A Testbed production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4

First broadcast in 2017.

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