  moniza alvi (born 2 february 1954) is a pakistani-british poet and writer. ==life and education== moniza alvi was born in lahore, pakistan. she was born to a pakistani father and a british mother. her father moved to hatfield, hertfordshire in england when she was a few months old. she did not revisit pakistan until after the publication of one of her first book of poems - the country at my shoulder. she worked for several years as a high school teacher, but is now a freelance writer and tutor, living in norfolk. she and her husband, robert, have a daughter named alice. ==poetry== alvi says: "presents from my aunts...was one of the first poems i wrote. when i wrote this poem, i hadn't actually been back to pakistan. the girl in the poem would be me at about 13. the clothes seem to stick to her in an uncomfortable way, a bit like a kind of false skin, and she thinks things aren't straightforward for her.i found it was important to write the pakistan poems because i was getting in touch with my background. and maybe there's a bit of a message behind the poems about something i went through, that i want to maybe open a few doors if possible."bbc gcse bitesize. accessed 4 june 2011. peacock luggage, a book of poems by moniza alvi and peter daniels, was published as a result of the two poets winning together the poetry business prize in 1991, in alvi's case for 'presents from my aunts in pakistan'.sawnet profile. accessed 8 april 2010. that poem and 'an unknown girl' have featured on england's gcse exam syllabus for young teenagers. since then, moniza alvi has written four poetry collections. the country at my shoulder (1993) led to her being selected for the poetry society's new generation poets promotion. she also published a series of short stories how the stone found its voice (2005), inspired by kipling's just so stories. in 2002 she received a cholmondeley award for her poetry. in 2003 a selection of her poetry was published in a bilingual dutch and english edition.het land aan mijn schouder. translations by kees klok. sliedrecht: wagner & van santen, 2003. isbn 90-76569-36-3. a selection from her earlier books, split world: poems 1990â2005, was published in 2008.bloodaxe, isbn 978-1-85224-802-4 on 16 january 2014, alvi participated in the bbc radio 3 series "the essay - letters to a young poet". taking rainer maria rilke's classic text, letters to a young poet as inspiration, leading poets wrote a letter to a protÃ©gÃ©. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03pdg5d/the_essay_letters_to_a_young_poet_moniza_alvi/ ==selected works== ===poetry=== *carrying my wife (bloodaxe, 2000) isbn 978-1-85224-537-5 *souls (blo
1954_births Alumni_of_the_University_of_York British_women_poets British_women_writers Living_people Pakistani_emigrants_to_the_United_Kingdom Pakistani_people_of_English_descent Poets_from_Lahore Writers_from_Lahore Writers_of_Pakistani_descent