Nine Arches Press
Adventures in poetry
Blue, Babe
Shagufta K. Iqbal
ISBN: 9781916760462
eISBN: 9781916760479
Price: £11.99
Publication date: 3rd September 2026
Format: Paperback / eBook
Territories: World
Extent: 72pp
DCF: Poetry Collections
Blue, Babe examines the dynamics of family life and how humans hold on to love and survival in illuminating poems full of reflection and hope. This second collection by Shagufta K. Iqbal delves into the experiences of women amidst conflict, colonial legacies, climate injustice, and the domestic everyday.
As the poems explore how we make families, Iqbal centres women’s stories and spaces, gathering narratives from telephone calls and conversations, in the handing over of family recipes and passing down of histories that encounter war, partition and displacement. Between relationships and family, Blue, Babe also delves into marriage and motherhood, divorce and friendship. Above all, this dazzling, lyrical collection is dedicated to how we learn to love, and trust in love again.
Praise for Blue, Babe:
‘Blue, Babe is an evocative and unflinching ode to womanhood. A lyrical tour de force.’ - Zeba Talkhani
‘Shagufta’s poems sing like a canary in the coalmine - for all we have lived, and for all our children have yet to live.’ – Sabba Khan
‘Pick up the tin-can phone under a night sky and Blue, Babe answers. Shagufta K Iqbal has written a collection that asks: is love the wound, the healing, the ruin & rebuild, or D) all of the above? And the answer, every time, is D. Formally playful, tender and incisive, this astonishing collection explores the slow, radical work of new beginnings against a tapestry of families and desire. There are hungry galaxies, ghosts trading love stories, lemon trees, and a grandmother walking out of the house with a rifle in her hands. I want you to love these poems the way I do–in astonishment at their bravery and bite. “If a tomato is a fruit because it has seeds” and “anything with seeds can be hope”, Iqbal’s poems are a greenhouse bursting with tomatoes and winter light.’ - Cynthia Miller
Shagufta K. Iqbal's debut poetry collection Jam Is For Girls, Girls Get Jam was described by gal-dem as “heart-wrenching and relatable”, and praised by Nikesh Shukla as “a socio-political masterclass”. Her writing is included in Slam: You’re Gonna Wanna Hear This, Spin! and The Book of Bristol. She has worked with the V&A, Tate, Southbank Centre, Hyderabad, Lagos, and Toronto Poetry Festivals. She has performed with Tedx WOMAD, Shambala and Glastonbury Festivals. Her poetry film Borders is a powerful exploration of displacement and resilience, and has received multiple international awards and screenings. She also writes for children.
Photograph: Kiran Gidda
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The Nine Arches Press blog features poems from many of our poets, as well as interviews and articles.
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