The Nerve is a podcast produced by the English department at South East Technological University Cork Road campus. Each episode brings together staff and students to discuss a range of topics, including English literature, cultural events and critical theory. Hosted by Dr Jenny O'Connor.
In this final episode of the podcast for this academic semester, we are joined by the poet Nidhi Zak/ Aria Eipe. Her first poetry collection, Auguries of a Minor God (2021), was selected as a Book of the Year by The Irish Times and The Irish Independent and was shortlisted for major poetry prizes such as the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Butler Literary Award. She is a Global Peace Ambassador with the Institute for Economics and Peace, and a recipient of the Next Generation Artist Award in Literature from the Arts Council of Ireland.
Born in India, Nidhi has lived across The Middle East, Europe and North America, an upbringing that has informed the variety of styles and forms that she works within. During the episode, she discusses a workshop on ekphrastic poetry that she ran at SETU in Waterford thanks to funding from the Strategic Alignment for Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) from the National Forum.
The session used ekphrastic poetry as a way of asking participants to reconsider their perspectives on the world around them, and Nidhi discusses the role of her own poetry in asking questions (rather than offering answers) in times of personal, social and political upheaval.