W
Writer & Contributor
Warsan Shire
Brief Biography: Warsan Shire was born on 1 August 1988 in Nairobi, Kenya. Her parents were Somali refugees who escaped the war in Somalia. When she was one year old, her family moved to London, England. She grew up there and became a British-Somali ...
1
Literary Works
0
Followers
About Warsan Shire
Life, Works, and Legacy
Brief Biography: Warsan Shire was born on 1 August 1988 in Nairobi, Kenya. Her parents were Somali refugees who escaped the war in Somalia. When she was one year old, her family moved to London, England. She grew up there and became a British-Somali poet and writer. Her poems discuss home, loss, and the refugee experience. Her writing style is simple, emotional, and very honest.
Her first poetry book was Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. It was published in 2011 by Flipped Eye Publishing. The book made her popular in the poetry world. In 2013, she won the Brunel University African Poetry Prize. Then, another poetry collection, Our Men Do Not Belong to Us, was published in 2014 by Slapering Hol Press. In 2014, she became the first Young Poet Laureate for London. She was also chosen as Poet in Residence for Queensland, Australia. Here, she worked with the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts.
In 2015, she published a limited edition pamphlet called Her Blue Body. She became famous worldwide after working with Beyoncé. Her poems appeared in Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade (2016) and later in Black Is King (2020). In 2017, she was included in the Penguin Modern Poets series with Sharon Olds and Malika Booker. In 2018, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, one of Britain’s top literary honors. Her first full poetry collection, Bless the Daughter Raised by A Voice in Her Head, was published in 2022 by Penguin Random House. The book explores identity, womanhood, trauma, and strength. She also wrote a short film called Brave Girl Rising. It tells the story of Somali girls in a large refugee camp in Africa.
Today (in 2025), Warsan Shire lives with her husband and two children in Los Angeles, USA. Her poems are read all over the world and translated into many languages. She is now one of the most respected young poets of her time. She is known for her clear voice and deep compassion for displaced people.