Bad Machine

By Moniza Alvi

This book-length poem is set at the time of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 when thousands of people were killed in civil unrest and millions displaced, with families later split between the two countries. Inspired by family history, Moniza Alvi weaves a deeply personal story of fortitude and courage, as well as of tragic loss, in this powerful work in 20 parts. At the Time of Partition is Moniza Alvi's first new poetry book since her T.S. Eliot Prize-shortlisted collection Europa, published in 2008 at the same time as Split World: Poems 1990-2005. 'Alvi...takes a historical journey as the structure for this narrative poem. The year is 1947 -the year of Partition -and a family is forced to leave their home in Ludhiana for Lahore...Alvi captures the trauma of a nation in this slim, exquisitely mournful story of departure, migration and the uncertain feelings of settling in a new country...' - Arifa Akbar, Independent. 'The volume consists of 20 poems which flow into each other to create a single haunting and lyrical narrative, welding the personal and the public. The result is a stunning, skilled and controlled work of immense grandeur...At the Time of Partition is a truly extraordinary collection, a work which succeeds in being spare, compelling and timeless. Furthermore, for the subcontinental reader, it captures a moment of time, a memory, so visceral that it has an extraordinary power. This book should not be missed.' - Moneeza Shamsie, Dawn (Pakistan). Shortlisted for the 2013 T.S. Eliot Prize, Poetry Book Society Choice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books
• Release date: Mar 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781780371191

Moniza Alvi

Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan and grew up in Hertfordshire. After working for many years as a secondary school teacher in London, she is now a freelance writer and tutor, and lives in Wymondham, Norfolk. All her poetry is published by Bloodaxe. Her most recent titles are Fairoz (2022), Blackbird, Bye Bye (2018); her book-length poem, At the Time of Partition (2013); Homesick for the Earth, her versions of the French poet Jules Supervielle (2011); Europa (2008); and Split World: Poems 1990-2005 (2008), which includes poems from her five previous collections, The Country at My Shoulder (1993), A Bowl of Warm Air (1996), Carrying My Wife (2000), Souls (2002) and How the Stone Found Its Voice (2005). The Country at My Shoulder was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot and Whitbread poetry prizes, and Carrying My Wife was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Europa and At the Time of Partition were selected as Poetry Book Society Choices in 2008 and 2013 respectively and both were shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Moniza Alvi received a Cholmondeley Award in 2002. A collection of her poems was published in Italy by Donzelli Editore in their Poesia series in 2014, Un mondo diviso, translated by Paola Splendore.

Book preview

MONIZA ALVI

AT THE TIME OF PARTITION

Poetry Book Society Choice

Shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2013

This book-length poem is set at the time of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 when thousands of people were killed in civil unrest and millions displaced, with families later split between the two countries. Inspired by family history, Moniza Alvi weaves a deeply personal story of fortitude and courage, as well as of tragic loss, in this powerful work in 20 parts.

At the Time of Partition is Moniza Alvi’s first new poetry book since her T.S. Eliot Prize-shortlisted collection Europa, published in 2008 at the same time as Split World: Poems 1990-2005.

COVER PHOTOGRAPH

Lahore 1948 by Henri Cartier-Bresson

© HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON /MAGNUM PHOTOS

Moniza Alvi

AT THE TIME OF PARTITION

At the Time of Partition is set during the time of the division of India in 1947. Inspired by family stories, it is a version of what might have taken place.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to the editors of the following publications where extracts from At the Time of Partition first appeared: Exiled Ink, Ink Sweat and Tears, The London Magazine, Magma, Poetry International Web, Poetry London, Poetry Review and Vallum (Canada). Excerpts will also appear in Prairie Schooner (USA).

Thank you to my writing friends for their invaluable assistance and encouragement. I am very grateful to Mara Bergman and Susan Wicks who read the manuscript.