Warsan Shire

"With her first full-length poetry collection, Warsan Shire introduces us to a young girl, who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own stumbling way towards womanhood. Drawing from her own life and the lives of loved ones, as well as pop culture and news headlines, Shire finds vivid, unique details in the experiences of refugees and immigrants, mothers and daughters, Black women, and teenage girls. In Shire's hands, lives spring into fullness. This is noisy life: full of music and weeping and surahs and sirens and birds. This is fragrant life: full of blood and perfume and shisha smoke and jasmine and incense. This is polychrome life: full of henna and moonlight and lipstick and turmeric and kohl"--

Poems

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head

Essence

Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women. Sometimes, the men--they come with keys, and sometimes, the men-they come with hammers.

Daughter is synonymous with traitor, their father mutters in his sleep.

Marma, I made it out of your home alive, raised by the voices in my head.

Bless the baby girl, caul of dissatisfaction, patron saint of not good enough.

Lindsay

Ghofran Mustafa 

A loop, a girl born to each family,
prelude to suffering..

azliana aziz

Stef

Beautiful written poetry about womanhood and migration. Some of the poetry a little miss to me but I got the message the author want to potray.

Sara

eden

my favourite poems are bless your ugly daughter and bless the moon but they all were v good

Sabrina D. 

Beautiful; dark; relevant; ethereal ♥️ Read or listen to this collection asap. *The audiobook is narrated by the author.✨

Poems of migration, womanhood, trauma, and resilience from the celebrated collaborator on Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Black Is King, award-winning Somali British poet Warsan Shire “The beautifully crafted poems in this collection are fiercely tender gifts.”—Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist and Hunger ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Vogue, BuzzFeed, Esquire, Bustle, Essence, The Week, Lit Hub Mama, I made it / out of your home / alive, raised by / the voices / in my head. With her first full-length poetry collection, Warsan Shire introduces us to a young girl, who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own way toward womanhood. Drawing from her own life, as well as pop culture and news headlines, Shire finds vivid, unique details in the experiences of refugees and immigrants, mothers and daughters, Black women and teenage girls. In Shire’s hands, lives spring into fullness. This is noisy life, full of music and weeping and surahs and sirens and birds. This is fragrant life, full of blood and perfume and shisha smoke and jasmine and incense. This is polychrome life, full of henna and moonlight and lipstick and turmeric and kohl. The long-awaited collection from one of our most exciting contemporary poets, this book is a blessing, an incantatory celebration of resilience and survival. Each reader will come away changed.

Kate B-L

'Warsan Shire is an extraordinarily gifted poet whose profoundly moving poems so powerfully give voice to the unspoken' Bernardine Evaristo Poems of migration, womanhood, trauma and resilience from the award-winning Somali British poet Warsan Shire, celebrated collaborator on Beyoncé's Lemonade and Black Is King. With her first full-length poetry collection, Warsan Shire introduces us to a girl who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own stumbling way toward womanhood. Drawing from her own life and the lives of loved ones, as well as pop culture and news headlines, Shire finds vivid, unique details in the experiences of refugees and immigrants, mothers and daughters, Black women and teenage girls. These are noisy lives, full of music and weeping and surahs. These are fragrant lives, full of blood and perfume and jasmine. These are polychrome lives, full of moonlight and turmeric and kohl. The long-awaited collection from one of our most exciting contemporary poets is a blessing, an incantatory celebration of survival. Each reader will come away changed. 'Warsan Shire electrifies... The beautifully crafted poems in this collection are fiercely tender gifts' Roxane Gay

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head Poems

Reviews

Highlights