“It’s exhausting to be a guest / In somebody else’s house / Forever.”
In only three lines of poetry, Bhanu Kapil, 53, captures the ache, trauma and sheer fatigue of being a migrant, an outsider. Exiled.
Taken from her remarkable collection How To Wash A Heart, which won the TS Eliot Prize last month, they are written in the voice of an immigrant guest in the home of a white middle class couple. As their relationship rapidly fractures, so – deliberately and brutally – does the poeticism of the book. But for Kapil, there's succour to be found in the power of her form. "Poetry is the antidote to the loss of place or home," she said after winning.
We communicate via email a few days after her win, and though it seems likely that Kapil will have to deal with a hugely deserved increase in her profile, for now, she is still keen to let the written word do the talking.
Born in England to Indian parents, she grew up in London and has spent the past two decades living, working and publishing in the US, very aware of what being a "minority presence", as she's put it before, feels like.
So though How To Wash A Heart isn't autobiographical, it's certainly packed with lived experiences, born of a suspicion that the outward-facing inclusivity of Kapil's "mostly white" private liberal arts college did not quite match how it felt to work in that space as someone of her heritage.
Inspiration struck when she saw a news story about a Californian woman offering a room to someone with a “precarious visa status”, having already adopted a girl from the Philippines a few years earlier. “I felt something I could not [then] put words to, when I read her ornate way of describing the hospitality that she was offering,” she explains in the book’s notes.
In other words, Kapil began to wonder what it was really like in that house in California (in one poem, a wet towel is placed on a bannister and the host explodes in anger) and what a "welcome" might really mean, then going on to create a fiction which speaks to both yet is also at odds with the rest of her more autobiographical work. "I wanted to bundle the stories of my own family, told then retold, with other memories and ways of knowing, which are and are not mine," she explains.
“This book is a stage in a larger process of collective life-writing, and an investigation of form as resembling the nervous system itself: glitches and routes, semblances, visions, and the way that memory actually moves through an organism, like its own kind of time.”
These thrilling experiments in form are, of themselves, a fascinating writerly experiment, which, when melded with a linear story, pierces the heart and head equally. The idea of washing a heart is bound up in the notion that chronic racial trauma lodges in the tissues of the body – it's no surprise that the judges for TS Eliot Prize were so impressed.
I wanted to bundle the stories of my own family, told then retold, with other memories and ways of knowing, which are and are not mine
Yet, Kapil also had a more prosaic hope for the collection. Even before she wrote the first word, the book would be a means of being able to return or reconnect to an England she left in her late twenties. How To Wash A Heart is her first full-length collection published in her home country. "How To Wash A Heart is a radical and arresting collection that recalibrates what is possible for poetry to achieve," said chair of the judges panel, Lavinia Greenlaw.
“I had a vision of a reader sitting in their kitchen, making a cup of tea and sitting down to read the whole book in the time it might take to drink that tea,” she remembers in typically, perhaps necessarily, poetic terms.
“Perhaps their tea would grow cold. I could see the kitchen floor in my mind, and hear the kettle hiss. It was palpable, the sense of a reader reading, and what it would be to write a book that could not be stopped, reversed, or paused – just as what was in it could not be, either.”
Kapil is back living in England now, finally getting the recognition she deserves. Last year, she was awarded the Windham Campbell prize, a $165,000 grant that gives writers the opportunity to focus on their work without financial concerns. If that was "life-changing and life-supporting for myself and my family", nearly a year on, the TS Eliot prize has similar practical benefits.
“Having returned to England without inherited wealth or a permanent home in this country, or a full-time job, the prize money makes it possible to create a stable base for my family here,” she says. “It’s a source of deep good fortune and magic for which I am profoundly grateful.”
There's also an intriguing creative impact which she hopes to investigate. The title How To Wash A Heart actually started as a performance with her sister Rohini at a live event at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London, in which she literally washed a frozen heart.
At the moment, they’re recalibrating the show – Rohini’s images and projections with Bhanu’s writing alongside – for an online installation.
“Stay tuned! I’d love to see a space with my sister’s astounding work on every wall, and then to think in that space with others, diasporic others, you could say. For me, the intense colour and light vibrations of my sister’s work are something I experience as deeply healing and transforming, even when the conversation or thinking alongside is not always the easiest.”
But you sense that's the whole point of Kapil's body of work, she's not interested in simply the performance or reading of it, but how people approach her themes and concerns afterwards.
"How we can think together, through the debris, that's not going to cause further harm," she says. It's an approach to poetry which underlines Greenlaw's assertion that Kapil's work is genuinely radical.
“Well, I’m hoping that winning the TS Eliot prize will make it possible to connect with radical others of many kinds,” she says.
Stay tuned, indeed.
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Results
2pm: Handicap Dh 90,000 1,800m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
2.30pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,950m; Winner: Just A Penny, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
3pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
3.30pm: Jebel Ali Classic Conditions Dh300,000 1,400m; Winner: Thegreatcollection, Adrie de Vries, Doug Watson.
4pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m; Winner: Oktalgano, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.30pm: Conditions Dh250,000 1,400m; Winner: Madame Ellingtina, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m; Winner: Mystery Land, Fabrice Veron, Helal Al Alawi.
5.30pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,000m; Winner: Shanaghai City, Jesus Rosales, Rashed Bouresly.
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Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
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TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
New schools in Dubai
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
Company%20Profile
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What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The%20specs
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match info
Chelsea 2
Willian (13'), Ross Barkley (64')
Liverpool 0
Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70')
Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
