Books / Poetry
Asif Khan to move to Scottish Poetry Library
Asif Khan has been named the Scottish Poetry Library’s new director.
Khan is currently the head of development at the RWA. He sits on the board of the Bristol Poetry Institute and is a trustee of The Poetry Can.
In recent years, he produced the Yardstick literature festival, the Jamaica Rising literature initiative and the poetry component of Bristol’s annual Festival of Nature.
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Though he grew up in Dundee and occasionally worked in London, Khan has spent much of his professional career in Bristol.
From 2009 to 2014, Khan worked as the engagement manager for Bristol Libraries, focusing on making Bristol’s libraries more inclusive. He has previously worked in audience engagement, business development and marketing for public libraries, literature, and visual and performing arts.
“I spent more than two decades working at places like Bristol libraries, Learning Partnership West and the Royal West of England Academy, so it will be a wrench to leave Bristol,” says Khan. “But what [working at the Scottish Poetry Library] means is I will be able to have a broader reach and impact.
“In 2009 I was identified by the Arts Council of England as a potential leader in the arts, and they sent me to put together a visual arts strategy in Barbados. I think they now feel as if finally their investment paid off.”
Despite his excitement about working for the Scottish Poetry Library, Khan will miss the city that initially benefited from his leadership in the arts.
“I’ll miss the buzz,” he says. “Bristol has gone through a cultural renaissance. I’d like to think I maybe had something to do with that.”
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