Jai Hamid Bashir
Visiting Poet
Jai Hamid Bashir's debut poetry chapbook, Desire/Halves, ends with: “Hawks take back the air— / and fill fevered throats with mother’s milk. Ma says drink / this in Urdu. I understand. Keep this secret. شب بخی” In Desire/Halves, which will be released October 2024 from Nine Syllables Press, Bashir navigates between English, Urdu, and Spanish, examining the interplay of these languages and the experience of being Pakistani-American. Her melancholy descriptions and visceral imagery connect tender, human experience with that of the nonhuman—the rabbit, the dog, and even the fruit whose “dark knowledge” she treats with poetic reverence. Desire/Halves was selected by poet Leila Chatti as the winner of the Nine Syllables Press contest, who described the collection as "a lush read of infinite tenderness.” Chatti goes on: “I marvel at Bashir’s dexterous use of language and sensuous, striking imagery—the 'silverhurry' of moon, 'اااااا blades of grass.' I could look forever through Bashir’s eyes if it meant seeing the world like this.” A graduate of the University of Utah and Columbia University, Bashir lives and writes in the American West with her partner. Her work has been featured in publications such as POETRY, American Poetry Review, The Arkansas International, Black Warrior Review, Denver Quarterly, Image Journal, and The Rumpus.
Bashir will read with Jennifer Funk at Leo Weinstein Auditorium in Wright Hall on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 7 p.m. Livestreams will be available on BDPC Facebook and YouTube pages.