Spoken Truth to Power

How does the experience of our ancestors shape us?

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Episode notes

CW/TW: This episode contains discussion of intergenerational mental health, and trauma experienced by women.

What happens when you invite two South Asian artists who have never met before to write a poem, across borders, about the theme of intergenerational mental health? They both write about the way their grandmothers have shaped their identity. 

Shagufta Iqbal is an award-winning writer, workshop facilitator and TEDx speaker, and was longlisted for the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship. Her poetry collection ‘Jam Is For Girls, Girls Get Jam’ (one of Burning Eye Books bestselling collections) has been recommended by Nikesh Shukla as ‘a social political masterclass’. Shagufta performs her original poem "Flooding". 

Megha Rao is a performance poet and surrealist artist from Kerala, India. Megha’s work has been featured on platforms such as Penguin Random House India, Firstpost, The Open Road Review, New Asian Writing, The Alipore Post, Spoken Fest, Why Indian Men Rape and Thought Catalog, and trended at #1 on Spotify podcasts in India. Megha performs her original poem "Homegrown Blade".

Performances by the poets are followed by a conversation hosted by Daljeet, about their grandmothers, land, borders and Identity.

Credits: Creator: Daljeet Jutla @culturestudio1, www.culturestudio.co.uk Host: Daljeet Jutla (@daljeetjutla, [email protected]) Guests: Shagufta Iqbal (@Shaguftakiqbalpoet) and Megha Rao (@megharao)  Artwork: Amrit Singh, @MrASingh https://www.rebelcreatives.co/ Sound Design and Music by Elliot Bulley @Elliotbulley, and Audio Post-Production by Chaos Creative http://www.chaoscreative.co.uk/ Specialist Producer: Serena Barker Singh @serenabarksing

Follow @spokentruthpod for episodes that deal with identity, diaspora, collective mental health and hope; Facebook: @spokentruthpowerpodcast; subscribe at https://podfollow.com/spokentruthpod 

Resources: Samaritans, free and confidential helpline Phone on 116 123 24 hours a day www.samaritans.org. Hopscotch Women's Centre - support services for Asian and other BAME women www.hopscotchawc.org.uk Phone 0207 388 8198. The Black, African and Asian therapy network (BAATN) directory of therapists from ethnic minority backgrounds www.batn.org.uk