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Podcast: New Books in South Asian Studies
Episode: Ghazal
Description: Manan Kapoor talks about the Ghazal, the medieval Arabic poetic form which travelled to the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century and flourished there ever since. He focuses on the work of Agha Shahid Ali, the Kashmiri-American poet who perfected the art of the ghazal in the English language. Kapoorâs biography of Shahid, A Map of Longings, was published earlier this year. Particular references are made to the poem âIn Arabicâ from Shahidâs collection Call me Ishmael Tonight, the ghazals sung by Begum Akhtar which greatly influenced Shahidâs work, and English ghazals written by poets like Adrienne Rich...