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Daljit Nagra
Daljit Nagra MBE FRSL (born 1966) is a British poet whose debut collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover! (based on a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice of the same name) was published by Faber in 2007. Nagra's poems relate to the experience of Indians born in the UK (especially Indian Sikhs), and often employ language that imitates the English spoken by Indian immigrants whose first language is Punjabi, which some have termed "Punglish". He was the first poet in residence at the BBC and has served as chair of the council of the Royal Society of Literature. He is a professor of creative writing at Brunel University London.
Daljit Nagra, whose Sikh Punjabi parents came to Britain from India in the late 1950s, was born and grew up in Yiewsley, near London's Heathrow Airport. The family moved to Sheffield in 1982. In 1988, Nagra went to study for a BA and MA in English at Royal Holloway, University of London. Tentatively beginning to write, he later attended poetry workshops, courses and tutorials, receiving feedback from poets including Pascale Petit, Moniza Alvi, John Stammers, Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay, and from 2002, being mentored by Stephen Knight.
In 2003, Nagra won the Smith/Doorstop Books Pamphlet Competition, leading to the publication of his Oh MY Rub!, which was the Poetry Book Society's first PBS Pamphlet Choice.
In 2004, he won the Forward Poetry Prize for best single poem for "Look We Have Coming to Dover!", a title alluding to W. H. Auden's Look, Stranger!, D. H. Lawrence's Look! We Have Come Through! and by epigraph also to Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach". His debut book-length collection, which takes the same title, was published in 2007, when it received extremely positive reviews and was featured on television and radio, including Newsnight Review. Look We Have Coming to Dover! won the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize for best first collection and the South Bank Show Decibel Award.
This was followed by Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!! (2012) which explored linguistic identity. In 2013 he published a creative translation of the Ramyana. In 2017 he published the collection British Museum which was said to break new and more political ground.
In October 2015, he became the first poet in residence for BBC Radio 4. From 2024, Nagra was the host of Poetry Extra on BBC Radio 4 Extra, a show which re-presented distinguished BBC radio programs about poetry.
His poem "Look We Have Coming to Dover" (2007), is used in the Edexcel "Poems of the Decade" A-Level qualification. His poem "Singh Song!" was added to the AQA English Literature GCSE love and relationships poetry specification in 2020.
In 2023, Nagra wrote a spoken-word piece that was performed by actor James Nesbitt at the Coronation Concert, to mark the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.
Daljit Nagra
Daljit Nagra MBE FRSL (born 1966) is a British poet whose debut collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover! (based on a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice of the same name) was published by Faber in 2007. Nagra's poems relate to the experience of Indians born in the UK (especially Indian Sikhs), and often employ language that imitates the English spoken by Indian immigrants whose first language is Punjabi, which some have termed "Punglish". He was the first poet in residence at the BBC and has served as chair of the council of the Royal Society of Literature. He is a professor of creative writing at Brunel University London.
Daljit Nagra, whose Sikh Punjabi parents came to Britain from India in the late 1950s, was born and grew up in Yiewsley, near London's Heathrow Airport. The family moved to Sheffield in 1982. In 1988, Nagra went to study for a BA and MA in English at Royal Holloway, University of London. Tentatively beginning to write, he later attended poetry workshops, courses and tutorials, receiving feedback from poets including Pascale Petit, Moniza Alvi, John Stammers, Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay, and from 2002, being mentored by Stephen Knight.
In 2003, Nagra won the Smith/Doorstop Books Pamphlet Competition, leading to the publication of his Oh MY Rub!, which was the Poetry Book Society's first PBS Pamphlet Choice.
In 2004, he won the Forward Poetry Prize for best single poem for "Look We Have Coming to Dover!", a title alluding to W. H. Auden's Look, Stranger!, D. H. Lawrence's Look! We Have Come Through! and by epigraph also to Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach". His debut book-length collection, which takes the same title, was published in 2007, when it received extremely positive reviews and was featured on television and radio, including Newsnight Review. Look We Have Coming to Dover! won the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize for best first collection and the South Bank Show Decibel Award.
This was followed by Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!! (2012) which explored linguistic identity. In 2013 he published a creative translation of the Ramyana. In 2017 he published the collection British Museum which was said to break new and more political ground.
In October 2015, he became the first poet in residence for BBC Radio 4. From 2024, Nagra was the host of Poetry Extra on BBC Radio 4 Extra, a show which re-presented distinguished BBC radio programs about poetry.
His poem "Look We Have Coming to Dover" (2007), is used in the Edexcel "Poems of the Decade" A-Level qualification. His poem "Singh Song!" was added to the AQA English Literature GCSE love and relationships poetry specification in 2020.
In 2023, Nagra wrote a spoken-word piece that was performed by actor James Nesbitt at the Coronation Concert, to mark the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.
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