I was born in Pakistan, immigrated to Canada aged 10, and lived in Spain before settling in the UK.
My latest collection, The Glimmer is out now with Bloodaxe Books. My other books are The Taxidermist (Verve Poetry Press, 2020), The Art of Scratching (Bloodaxe Books, 2015) and The Courtesans Reply (flipped eye publishing, 2012).
My poems have been published in poetry journals and anthologies in the UK and US, and in The Guardian and The Financial Times. I have performed my work at venues including Hay Festival, Bradford Literature Festival, Edinburgh Book Festival, Aldeburgh, Ledbury Festival and The Royal Festival Hall. A fellow of the Complete Works I, I have received grants and awards from The Arts Council, The British Council and the Royal Society of Literature.
A fellow of the Complete Works, I teach with The Poetry School and I am an artist in residence with Living Words, an arts charity working with isolated communities, individuals and people living with dementia. I am on the board of English PEN and on the Poetry and Spoken Word Committee of The Society of Authors.