Nabeela Ahmed: The Importance of Writing Authentically in a Second Language

Chosen Tongue

Nabeela Ahmed is a writer, multilingual poet, spoken word artist and storyteller. She writes and shares her work in English, Urdu and Pahari. Her poetry was the main feature of Keighley Arts and Film Festival in 2020. She teaches creative writing and poetry workshops. She has had poems published in England, America, Pakistan and India.Her poetry manuscript was shortlisted by Verve Poetry Press in 2022. Her novella, Despite our Differences is available on Amazon. We spoke about what goes amiss while switching from one language to the other, what's there to be gained, what it means for multicultural children to be able to express themselves in all the languages they are exposed to, and how to stay true to oneself, avoiding the trap of cultural clichés as a translingual writer. Nabila read two of her poems: FB: Nabeela Ahmed Insta: @nabeela__ahmed Twitter: @n_ehmed