Mimi Khalvati (born 28 April 1944) is an Iranian-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

poet. She is the recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry for 2023, awarded for "her outstanding talent and ability to draw on diverse cultural traditions – Iranian, English and American – to enrich British poetry".

Life and career

She was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, on 28 April 1944. She grew up on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and was educated in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

at the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking public research university in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, ...

, and in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

at the Drama Centre and the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

. She then worked as a theatre director in Tehran, translating from English into Persian and devising new plays, as well as co-founding the Theatre in Exile group. She now lives in

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

, and is a Visiting Lecturer at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

and a director of the London Poetry School. Khalvati was 47 when her first book was published in 1991. Its title, ''In White Ink'', derives from the work of

Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous (; ; born 5 June 1937) is a French writer, playwright and Literary criticism, literary critic. During her academic career, she was primarily associated with the Centre universitaire de Vincennes (today's University of Paris VIII) ...

who claimed that women in the past have written "in white ink". Michael Schmidt observes that Khalvati is "formally a most resourceful poet". Khalvati is the founder of The Poetry School, running poetry workshops and courses in London, and is co-editor of the school's first two anthologies of new writing: ''Tying the Song'' and ''Entering The Tapestry''. She is also tutor at the Arvon Foundation, and has taught creative writing at universities and colleges in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

of America and Britain. Her most recent collection of poems, ''Afterwardness'', was a 2019 Poetry Book Society Winter Wild Card choice, as well as a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' Book of the Year. In January 2024, Khalvati was announced as the 2023 recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry, awarded for excellence in poetry.

Works

* ''In White Ink'' (

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom. Originally a student magazine devised by undergraduates collaborating between Oxford and Cambridge, it was refounded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was nam ...

, 1991) * ''Mirrorwork'' (Carcanet Press, 1995) * ''Entries on Light'' (Carcanet Press, 1997) * ''Selected Poems'' (Carcanet Press, 2000) * ''The Chine'' (Carcanet Press, 2002) * ''The Meanest Flower'' (Carcanet Press, 2007) * ''Child: new and selected poems 1991–2011'' * ''The Weather Wheel'' (Carcanet Press, 2014) * ''Afterwardness'' (Carcanet Press, 2019)

Quotes

* "There is some poetry in the universe, in the world we live in. What poets do is to first be alive to it, and awake and receptive to it, and in love with it – I think it has a lot to do with love – and then have the wherewithal to translate that poetry that’s out there into poems, so, for me it’s an act of listening and of translating into heard and written language."

References

External links

Poetry School
website
Profile at Poetry Translation Centre, with links to poems, articles, audio and video footage

Khalvati's official websiteListen to Mimi Khalvati reading her poetry
- a British Library recording, 14 July 2008.
Profile and poems, written and audio at Poetry Archive

Second Light profile and poems

17 August 2007 * ttps://ditsomokos.com/2016/08/03/the-weather-wheel-an-interview-with-mimi-khalvati/ “The Weather Wheel”: An interview with Mimi Khalvati- 23 January 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalvati, Mimi 1944 births Living people Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the Drama Centre London Alumni of SOAS University of London British Asian writers British expatriates in Switzerland British women poets English women poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature International Writing Program alumni Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom People from the Isle of Wight Persian–English translators Poets from Tehran University of Neuchâtel alumni Writers from Hackney Central

Life and career

Works

Quotes

References

Further reading

External links