Alycia Pirmohamed Shorelines

As a young Muslim woman, the Canadian poet grew up with her body as racialised and her faith as seemingly dangerous. Her affinity to the natural world - the mountains, elk and pines of her childhood - conflicted with feelings that she was unwelcome in these landscapes. By contrast, the stories of her parents' homeland - the monsoon winds, red clay roads and abundant korosho trees - felt painfully distant. She examines the idea of homeland and the mythmaking it demands, asking what it means to carry hidden histories across borders and generations and how place and identity intertwine. Alycia teaches Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge. Shorelines won the Nan Shepherd Prize.

Talking to Julia Wheeler