sascha akhtar
Sascha Aurora Akhtar, is a trans-race, multi-dimensional, sub rosa poeto/story-bot. She was patented in Pakistan. Had upgrades in pre- 9/11 U.S.A. Was released onto shelves in the U.K. Her roboto-poetics have been widely anthologised and translated into Armenian, Portuguese, Galician, Russian, Dutch and Polish. Anthologies include Cathecism: Poems for Pussy Riot (2012) and the second Out of Everywhere (Reality Street, 2015). She has also been part of other poetry protests – Against Rape (Peony Moon, 2014), Solidarity Park Poetry – Poems for the Turkish resistance which she was the Editor and Founder of (Ed. 2013). Her second poetry collection 199 Japanese Names for Japanese Trees (Shearsman UK, 2016), follows on from The Grimoire of Grimalkin (SALT UK, 2007), which was called a "Contemporary masterpiece". Her fiction has appeared in BlazeVox, Tears In The Fence & Storgy. Women:Poetry:Migration, an anthology (Theenk Books: Edited by Jane Joritz-Nakagawa) was published in 2018 with poems from A Year In Clouds. Sascha has performed internationally at festivals such as the Poetry International Festival, Rotterdam, Avantgarde Festival, Hamburg and Southbank Centre's MELTDOWN festival, London curated by Yoko Ono.
She has a book of translations of pioneering feminist fiction writer Hijjab Imtiaz coming out later this year on Oxford University Press, an Art/object book of poems with drawings on ZimZalla entitled Only Dying Sparkles and is awaiting news of a pamphlet to be published possibly this year too. She also works as a freelance editor and Healer/ Wellness Facilitator using therapeutic meditation practices. In March 2019, she will be teaching a workshop on poetry & magic at the Poetry School entitled "Technicians of The Sacred: The Poem as a Magical Event."