From the Archive: My Life in Poetry with Candia McWilliam. December 2012

In the latest edition of our Nothing But The Poem podcast resident host Samuel Tongue - after a meetup of the Friends of the SPL Group - takes an exploratory dive into two poems by Indian poet, Tishani Doshi. 'Doshi’s work is like the music of Shostakovich; it gives no quarter but compels you to listen anyway and sometimes there is a beautiful lyricism to chase away the scary bits… There are words and phrases that will stay with you long after you close the book.’ – Frances Spurrier, Wales Arts Review "It’s impossible not to cheer for the poet’s third collection, with her reflections on female bodies and violence feeling exceptionally timely" - Sandeep Parmar, The Guardian The two poems discussed were: Some Words to the Close and Holy Darkness Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods

Lights! Camera! Action! Poetry!

The SPL's resident podcast host Sam Tongue takes a deep dive into two poems by one of Britain's most beloved poets, Imtiaz Dharker. Imtiaz Dharker - a Pakistani-born poet who grew up in Glasgow, then moved to Bombay as an adult before returning to Britain - was awarded the Queens' Medal for Poetry in 2014. Themes in Dharker's poetry include questioning what is meant by home, personal freedom, geographical and cultural displacement, communal conflict and gender politics. Carol Ann Duffy said, "Whether Imtiaz Dharker writes of exile, childhood, politics or grief, her clear-eyed attention brings each subject dazzlingly into focus. She makes it look easy, this clarity and economy, but it is her deft phrasing, wit and grace that create this immediacy.” The two poems savoured, discussed, examined in some depth in this podcast, are from her 2018 collection Luck is the Hook and can be read here: Bairn Stitch

For the first time in 75 years the Commonwealth of Nations appointed a Poet Laureate in Selina Tusitala Marsh, the former Poet Laureate of New Zealand, who lives on the NZ island of Waiheke. Selina, who has Pasifika ancestral roots, was made Poet Laureate in 2025 by the Commonwealth Foundation, for the inaugural two year post. Her work as Laureate aims to use poetry to connect the 2.7 billion Commonwealth citizens throughout 56 nation states. British Council New Zealand & the Pacific and British Council Scotland partnered to support Selina's visit to Scotland for a curated programme of exhibitions, talks and performances produced by the Scottish Poetry Library and the Games Festival's Watershed initiative. While in Scotland Selina recorded a podcast at the Scottish Poetry Library with Scottish Makar, Peter Mackay. She brought her official hand-carved New Zealand Laureate tokotoko stick with her, which accompanies her at all her public events. Selina and Peter's wide-ranging conversation will be catnip for poetry lovers, an absolute joy to listen to, beginning with Selina reading her poem Tusitala, and where her middle name comes from. And yes the tokotoko stick is discussed!

Our regular podcast host Samuel Tongue, after meeting with the Friends of the SPL group, rolls up his sleeves for one of his favourite poets, Selima Hill, examining two poems from her 1997 collection, Violet (Bloodaxe). Please Can I Have a Man Why I Left You What they said about Selima Hill's poetry: "Every page reveals her unique ability to invert the world and shake it, until it reveals its truth" - Kathleen Jamie & Maurice Riordan (PBS Bulletin) "She is truly gifted. She invests mundane things with visionary, delirious brilliance." - Graham Swift (Sunday Times)