Shamshad Khan

Biographical note:  Shamshad Khan was born in Leeds and now lives and works in Manchester. She trained as a biologist and currently sits part-time as a lay member
for employment tribunals. Her poetry has featured on BBC radio 3 and 4. Shamshad has established a profile for her performances working in collaboration with musicians, beatboxers and video artists.

Her poetic monologue “Hard Cut” and the show “Megalomaniac” as featured in this collection were both directed by Mark Whitelaw (winner of the Lawrence Olivier Award 2004).

BIC Basic

EAN13:  9781844713127
ISBN:  9781844713127
Author:  Shamshad Khan
Title:  Megalomaniac
Series:  Salt Modern Poets
Product class:  BC
Language:  eng
Audience:  General/trade
BIC subject category:  CTCH1
Publisher:  Salt Publishing
Pub date:  01-Jun-07
Extent:  128pp
Height:  216 mm
Width:  140 mm
Thickness:  8 mm
Weight:  192 gms
Supplier:   Gardners Books
Supplier:   Ingram Book Group
Supplier:   Inbooks (James Bennett)
Availability:  IP
Price:  GBP 9.99
Price:  USD 15.95
Rights:  World

Main description:  “I was blown away by the quality…” —Aftab Hussain, Peshkar theatre

“Megalomaniac is a beautifully written and performed piece of work. Shamshad Khan intelligently and humorously plays with ideas of fame and identity” —Geraldine Collinge, Apples and Snakes“

“I’ve been waiting years for Shamshad to publish a sole collection. Here it is at last, a flag in the mountain side of her journey. Read it and savour the view. It is vivid, vivacious and veracious.” —Lemn Sissay

“When I first saw Shamshad Khan read her poetry I was so moved that I haven’t stopped moving yet. I prayed to the god of poetry that her work would be put into print. Deliverance is sweet.” —Benjamin Zephaniah

Meet the author

Podcasts

Play Black Elephants (260 KB)


Play Hard Cut (5.9 MB)


Play Extract from Megalomaniac (2.8 MB)


Play Pot (1.8 MB)


Play Silver Threads (1.9 MB)

Table of contents:
Access Assured
Camel Jaw
Black Elephants
Shatter Proof Glass
Body of Flowers
Oppressed Coverage
When Do I Do I Do I Die
Grids
Classified
I’ve Been Waiting for Funding So Long
Hard Cut
Back at Your Place
Heart (Wrap)
Simple Explanations
Honey
Isosceles
Mat
I Am Impatient
Megalomaniac
It Looks Like a Map of the World
An Alternative to Plastination
Ms Havisham
On Understanding Our Dragons
Pot
Silver Threads

View excerpt as PDF:

Click here to view a sample (58 KB)

Excerpt from book:  

Body of Flowers

lady slipper feet

meadow sweet ankles
delphinium legs
tiger lily thighs
rhododendron bum
rose hips
peony lips
mimosa balls
poppycock

gentian navel
wisteria waist
ivy spine
sunflower breasts
honey suckle nipples
daisy chain ribs

marigold shoulders

jasmine … arms
buddleia biceps
pansy wrist
potted palms
foxglove fingers

buttercup throat
hyacinth chin
narcissus neck
chickory cheeks
mimulus mouth
tendril tongue
crocus nose
forget-me-knot eyes
snowdrop tears
daffodil ears
rose bay willow hair
vine mind
cerato skin

violet spleen
fuscia blood
lily liver
laburnum lungs
campion kidneys
lotus heart
angelica spit
comfrey bones

byrony bile
lavender shit
gladioli guts
dandelion piss

perennial spirit
clematis

Unpublished endorsement :  I’ve been waiting twenty years for Shamshad to publish a sole collection. Here it is at last; a flag in the mountainside of her journey. Read it and savour the view. It is vivid, vivacious and veracious.

Lemn Sissay

Unpublished endorsement :  When I first heard Shamshad Khan read her poetry I was so moved that I haven’t stopped moving yet. I prayed to the god of poetry that her work would be put into print. Deliverance is sweet.

Benjamin Zephaniah

Review quote:  Megalomaniac is a beautifully written and performed piece of work. Shamshad Khan intelligently and humorously plays with ideas of fame and identity.

Geraldine Collinge
Apples and Snakes

Review quote:  A powerful piece…High quality, beautifully and sensitively performed … Wicked humour.

green room, Manchester

Review quote:  I was blown away by the quality of Friday night’s performance…and rate it as one of the best things I have seen all year.

Aftab Hussain
Peshkar Theatre

Review quote:  Amazing.

Ra Page
City Life

Review quote:  … there is no convenient category in which to place Shamshad Khan. Her poetry is delicately worded yet strong in its messages. She presents her work with such physicality that to watch her truly engages the senses.

Carmen Walter
Writing Magazine

Review quote:  Shamshad is a committed, convincing and passionate performer and brings the skills of an experienced artist to bear on every element of her shows. I look forward to all her projects as I know that each one marks a growth of ambition and a widening of scope.

Chris Gribble
Manchester Poetry Festival