Under the Influence
Wednesday 1 August 2007 23:00-23:15 (Radio 3)
Three contemporary poets talk about poets whose work has influenced their own.
Playlist:
2/3. Imtiaz Dharker was born in Pakistan, but grew up in a strict Muslim home in Glasgow before eloping with an Indian Hindu. It is not surprising then that she is influenced not by a single writer, but a whole school: the Sangam poets who, two millennia ago, wrote their poems in Tamil.
Although Dharker does not know the language, through the lens of their translator AK Ramanjuan, these ancient poems of love and war have a profound impact on her work today.
