Mahendra Solanki

Mahendra Solanki was born in 1956 in Nairobi of Indian parents. Has lived in England since 1965 and after graduating in English and philosophy worked in publishing, adult and community education and the theatre before he started teaching literature and creative writing at Nottingham Trent University. He has worked as a writer in schools, colleges, libraries and universities as well as taking up residencies for the Arts Council, The Poetry Society and The Arvon Foundation, amongst others. He undertook a year long residency at The East Midlands Forensic Mental Health Centre, a secure unit for prisoners with mental health issues, after an initial Poetry Placement by The Poetry Society. He has been a Visiting Writing Fellow at the University of Massachusetts. He was a co-editor of Other Poetry (with Anne Stevenson et al) as well as editing individual collections of poetry for Blackwater Press. His publications include Shadows of My Making, Exercises in Trust and What You Leave Behind. His work has appeared in magazines and anthologies in Britain and abroad, including The Observer and Poetry Review and been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 & 4. He has also undertaken public commissions, collaborating with artists such as Kay van Bellen (for The Riverside Commission) and film-maker Jaharlal Sen (for The Royal Festival Hall).