Art of Scratching

'There is an intriguing collision between the archaeological and the lyrical in Shazea Quraishi's series of poems, The Courtesans Reply - The props and rituals bestow on these poems an exotic otherness but the emotions they explore are timeless' - Stephen Knight, Ten. 'Shazea Quraishi is one of a number of younger black and Asian women poets currently gaining ground in UK poetry. In sensual, clear, perfectly measured tones, her poems meet the male gaze with a female voice' - Katie Evans-Bush, Poetry International Web. 'Shazea Quraishi, in The Courtesans Reply, sensitively reconstructs an unfamiliar and vanished culture. Working from historical and literary sources, Quraishi never allows her research to speak louder than the human voices of her characters, a community of courtesans in Ancient India. Their individual feelings and desires emerge through lines which are simultaneously spare and sensuous' - Richard O'Brien, Poetry London.