Joaquina Otero, Jacob Windover , Mora Peusner Dacharry

3/10/22

The terrorist at my table

● Her main themes are drawn from a life of transitions:

childhood, exile, journeying, home, displacement, religious
strife and terror, and latterly, grief.
● Asks questions about how we live now, encourages reader to
question their own lives
● It makes us think about what we know about the strangers
which we share our lives with, for example, the streets, a house,
a table and your body.
● The book has 3 parts:
○ The terrorist at my table
○ The habits of departure
○ Worldwide Rickshaw ride
● The poems unveil the delicate skin of love, trust and sudden
recognition.

Reviews:
● ‘Her work is full of a deep relish for all the world has to offer – food, travel,
color, love – and a lip-smacking relish for words themselves.' - Carol Ann Duffy
(Poems to get us through), The Guardian

● ‘Hers is a strong, concerned, economical poetry, in which political activity,

homesickness, urban violence, religious anomalies, are raised in an unobtrusive
domestic setting, all the more effectively for their coolness of treatment’ – Alan
Ross, London Magazine

● ‘Here there is no glib internationalism or modish multiculturalism

…Displacement here no longer spells exile; it means an exhilarating sense of life
at the interstices. There is an exultant celebration of a self that strips off layers
of superfluous identity with grace and abandon, only to discover that it has not
diminished, but grown larger, generous, more inclusive’ – Arundhathi
Subramaniam, Poetry International

● Were there to be a World Laureate, Imtiaz Dharker would be the only candidate'
– Carol Ann Duffy.

● ‘Thoughtful,inventive poetry that explores life and identity, extending itself

across the multicultural globe. Impressions and possibilities build, layer upon
layer, through three poetic sequences which are peppered with illustrations
Joaquina Otero, Jacob Windover , Mora Peusner Dacharry

which add to the richness of the book. Sensual, thought-provoking and

entertaining’ - J.S. Watts's review

● ‘A very hard book to judge given it is an anthology of very different poems. For
me it's very much a mixed bag with some very enjoyable poetry and some
which did nothing for me. I particularly enjoyed the poems around fruit, a rich
description of a pomegranate and a charming depiction of Seville Oranges. Also
the final section World Rickshaw Ride was an excellent finale, fast paced and
possibly the best part of the book. You felt like you were on the journey with the
writer.’ - Dayle Kulakiewicz's review

Sources:
● https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/the-terrorist-at-my-table-837#:~:text=Her%20m
ain%20themes%20are%20drawn,integral%20part%20of%20her%20books.
● https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-terrorist-at-my-table/imtiaz-dharker/9781852247355
● The terrorist at my table in SearchWorks catalog (stanford.edu)
● https://www.kennys.ie/literature/the-terrorist-at-my-table
● The Terrorist at My Table by Imtiaz Dharker (goodreads.com)