Daljit Nagra (born 1966) is a British poet whose debut collection, ''Look We Have Coming to Dover!'' was published by Faber in 2007. Nagra's poems relate to the experience of Indians born in the UK (especially Indian

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

s), 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 The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

. He is a professor of creative writing at

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

Early life and education

Daljit Nagra, whose Sikh Punjabi parents came to Britain from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the late 1950s, was born and grew up in Yiewsley, near London's Heathrow Airport. The family moved to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in 1982."Biography"
Daljit Nagra website. In 1988, Nagra went to study for a BA and MA in English at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

. 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 Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She wa ...

and

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay (born 9 November 1961) is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Somerset Maugham A ...

, and from 2002, being mentored by Stephen Knight.

Poetry career

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 Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...

'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 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. 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 AQA Education, trading as AQA (formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance), is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds Test (assessment), examinations in various subjects at Genera ...

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

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 The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, Camilla, as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth re ...

. His poems have been published in the '' New Yorker'', ''Atlantic Review'', '' The London Review of Books'', '' The Times Literary Supplement'', '' Poetry Review'', '' Poetry London'', '' Poetry International'', '' The Rialto'' and ''The North''.

Other activities

Nagra has been on the Board of the Poetry Book Society and the Poetry Archive. He has judged the 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize, the Guardian First Book Award 2008, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2008, the National Poetry Competition 2009, the 2010 Manchester Poetry Prize. and the Costa Book Award poetry category and overall winner in 2012. He has also hosted the T. S. Eliot Poetry Readings 2009. He was the Keats House Poet-In-Residence from July 2014 to June 2015, and he was an Eton College Wisdom Scholar in November 2014.In 2014, he won the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Travelling Scholarship Award. Nagra has acted as the Lead Poetry Tutor at the Faber Academy and has run workshops internationally. He is a contributor to

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, and has written articles for ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. He teaches English at Brunel University. In 2017, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

. and in 2020 was appointed chair of the Council. During his tenure the society made historic changes to improve the diversity of the fellowship. Following controversy, it was announced on 6 January 2025 that he would be leaving the position at the end of his four-year term, coinciding with RSL director Molly Rosenburg also stepping down after 15 years. Nagra was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

for services to literature.

Personal life

Nagra married a fellow student soon after graduating from university and had a daughter. Subsequently, Nagra met and married his current wife Katherine, with whom he has two daughters. During the 2000s, they lived in Dollis Hill, north-west London, before moving to Harrow in the 2010s.

Bibliography

* ''Oh MY Rub!'' – Smith/Doorstop, 2003. * ''Look We Have Coming to Dover!'' – Faber & Faber, 2007. * ''Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!!'' – Faber & Faber, 2012. * ''Ramayana'' – Faber & Faber, 2013. (hardback); (paperback). * "British Museum" – Faber & Faber, 2017. (hardback)

Interviews

References

External links

Daljit Nagra's entry
on the British Council's Contemporary Writers website. Retrieved 19 March 2008 *Daljit Nagra

''

'', 26 July 2004. Retrieved 20 January 2007 *Jon Stone
An Interview with Daljit Nagra
''Roundtable Review'', edition 4, January–February 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2007 *Daljit Nagr
official website
19 November 2007, created b
Kuldip Sodera, tetra interactive''Look We Have Coming to Dover!'' Poem Analysis and Commentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagra, Daljit 1966 births Living people 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English poets Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Date of birth missing (living people) English male poets English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Members of the Order of the British Empire People from the London Borough of Hillingdon Poets from London Writers from Sheffield