God is not a sexist

About Asha Karami

Asha Karami writes poetry and plays. She lives in Amsterdam and works as a doctor in youth health care. In 2018, she won second place at the National Poetry Slam championship, having competed as an ‘anti-performance’ performer. Her highly lauded debut, Godface, was published in 2019 and nominated for Herman de Coninckprijs, De Grote Poëzieprijs and E. du Perronprijs. In 2020-2021 she was a writer in residence at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. She is an editor at De Internet Gids and program maker at Perdu, institute for Poetry and Experiment. Together with Johan van Dijke, she creates poetry films, of which 'God is not a sexist' was selected for Zebra poetry film festival.

The contours of Karami’s poems are porous; voices, moods, locations, and time merge in writing that is not bound by traditional form. Relentless rhythm gives way to space and silence. Narrative elements are juxtaposed, paradoxically allowing the poems to be understood, without the separate elements being perceived as logical or clear. This paradox makes the work exciting, addictive and elusive. Karami’s keen eye, self-mockery and humor make Godface a unique and intriguing debut.