On the 8th of November, 2024: I had the pleasure of meeting Imtiaz Dharker, internationally famous poet and Chancellor of Newcastle University (you may recognise her from her poem Tissue, on the GCSE Power and Conflict specification), as she read from her latest book of poems Shadow Reader (as well as other works) at the Southern Maltings creative arts hub in the Hertfordshire market town Ware.

I had initially been drawn toward the reading through my English literature class, as Dharker has been travelling across the UK to share her passion for poetry to promote her latest collection of poetry, and reaching out to the youth has been a crucial part of this; and she read primarily from her latest collection (just another addition to an impressive seven published collections) Shadow Reader, an incredible and brand new book.

Dharker’s verse and readings were my first true experience with a senior and skilled poet, and combined with her extraordinary skill and grace, she simply captivated me as she recited perhaps a dozen or so poems in that dark room.

I wrote in my diary that day: “As she read so naturally, so beautifully, the room around her seemed to fizzle out and disappear and become liminal as she poured magic in our ears. All of us sat there between each honeyed line, silent, stunned, enchanted.”

I understood then, as I do now, that this is what Dharker set out to do, this is why she was here; a skilled master must teach their pupils, and we were being enlightened.

Many of us in that dark, delighted room asked her questions- I included; as an aspiring writer and poet myself I inquired as to how one could get to such a station as her, how I could get started, how I could get published; and Dharker highly values these interactions and exchanges.

The advice she delivered (of which is deserving of it’s own article altogether) proved how masterful, experienced, and truly wise the intellectual goliath standing before us really was, and I clung to every word like a lifeboat; and so when the kind devotees of Ware Poets offered yet another reading of Dharker’s that night, of which the first half of the evening would be dedicated to readings of our own poetry- I could not be more thrilled.

That charming autumn night, I read aloud verse of my own to a room of strangers and, though knees wobbly, loved every second of it.

I shall never forget that evening for as long as I live, for it proves not only how important and influential the work and guidance of experienced poets and artisans can truly be, it also acts as a testament to the greatness of the speaker that night; Imtiaz Dharker, and our wonderful hosts at Southern Maltings, Ware Poets.

Signed in my copy of Shadow Reader, Dharker left me this: “Good luck with your writing. Dance in the Shadow. Imtiaz Dharker, 2024.”