Daljit Nagra

Daljit Nagra grew up in a working-class Sikh Punjabi family in Yiewsley and later Sheffield, where his parents ran a convenience store after arriving in Britain from Punjab (India) in the late 1950s. Reading his first book of poetry at the age of 19, he was inspired to study English, and in 1988 attended Royal Holloway, University of London. During his studies, Nagra wrote poetry, and although one of his early poems was positively received by a professor, his lack of confidence meant that his writing life and career began later, after honing his technique as a new poet. From the late 1990s, Nagra began publishing his poetry in magazines under the pseudonym ‘Khan Singh Kumar’, but he soon switched to using his real name as his writing was increasingly published. He has developed his craft over several years, receiving feedback and mentorship from prominent British poets, including Ruth Padel, Carol Ann Duffy, Stephen Knight and Moniza Alvi.

Nagra’s poetry captures the pluralisms of British South Asian identities and experiences with a sense of playfulness. In 2003, and with the encouragement of his mentor Knight, Nagra won The Poetry Business’s Book and Pamphlet Competition with Oh My Rub! Nagra’s work since continues to focus on the complexities of the intersection of ‘Asian-ness’ and ‘Britishness’, illustrated in the combination of Punjabi-infused forms of English (or ‘Punglish’) and English cultural and literary references. His first poetry collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover!, was published in 2007 and won the Forward Poetry Prize for both Best First Collection and Best Single Poem, giving voice to lived experiences of migration and shifting – sometimes dissonant – senses of identity.

Nagra’s more recent works, Ramayana and British Museum, explore the interweaving of histories and layering of British and Indian cultures as they migrate and collide through language. He currently lives in Harrow with his family and presents Poetry Extra weekly on Radio 4 Extra. He was the Chair of the Royal Society of Literature from 2020 to 2025 and is Lead Advisor to Poetry By Heart, a national poetry-speaking competition for young students.