麻豆约拍

Daljit Nagra revisits the 麻豆约拍's poetry archive and selects A Portrait Of...Imtiaz Dharker.

Follow artist Fiona Graham-Mackay as she paints a portrait of the poet, artist and documentary film-maker.

Born in Pakistan and raised in Glasgow, Imtiaz was awarded the Queen鈥檚 Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014. She writes about freedom, cultural intolerance, gender politics, love and loss. Fellow poet Carol Ann Duffy has said, "If there were to be a World Laureate, then for me the role could only be filled by Imtiaz Dharker."

Fiona Graham-Mackay has painted hundreds of portraits, including Seamus Heaney and Sir Andrew Motion. Drawing is, she says, 鈥渢he flow of life, the soul of life,鈥� and 鈥測ou have to fall a little in love with your subject鈥�.

It鈥檚 a revealing, intimate experience, peeling away the layers to capture the essence of the sitter as seen through the artist鈥檚 eye. And in this, conversations meander in unexpected places.

Features readings of 'The Conversation' and 'Invisible' from Over the Moon; 'This room' from I Speak For the Devil, both published by Bloodaxe Books.

Producer: Eve Streeter

A Pier production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4, first broadcast in 2016.