Publisher Description
What elevates teaching my mother how to give birth, what gives the poems their disturbing brilliance, is Warsan Shire's ability to give simple, beautiful eloquence to the veiled world where sensuality lives in the dominant narrative of Islam; reclaiming the more nuanced truths of earlier times - as in Tayeb Salih's work - and translating to the realm of lyric the work of the likes of Nawal El Saadawi. As Rumi said, "Love will find its way through all languages on its own"; in teaching my mother how to give birth, Warsan's début pamphlet, we witness the unearthing of a poet who finds her way through all preconceptions to strike the heart directly.
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About Warsan Shire
Warsan Shire is a Kenyan-born Somali poet and writer, an artist and activist who uses her work to document narratives of journey and trauma. She has received various awards for her art. In 2013, she was awarded the Brunel University’s inaugural African Poetry Prize from 655 entrants. In 2013, she was named the first Young Poet Laureate for London. In 2014, she was chosen as poet-in-residence of Queensland, Australia. She has read her work internationally, including readings in South Africa, Italy, and Germany, and her poetry has been translated into Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.