Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head

I have long been a massive fan of Warsan Shire’s extraordinarily gifted poetry. Her exquisite, memorable and finely-tuned poems articulate a depth of experience that never fails to surprise and profoundly move me, as she so powerfully gives voice to the unspoken – Bernardine EvaristoAn incredible collection – Candice Carty-Williams * Stylist *Shire invokes the creative powers of the writer to transform one’s past… Vital, moving and courageous, this is a debut not to be missed – Mary Jean Chan * ‘The best recent poetry’ - Guardian *It is absolutely astonishing how much emotion, intelligence, imagination, and truth Warsan Shire can get into one collection. She is a poet of the highest order, with a compassionate heart, and a limitless mind – Benjamin ZephaniahMust-read poetry from the superstar Somali-British writer Warsan Shire * Stylist *Warsan Shire… explores trauma, womanhood and migration so magnificently that even Beyoncé has quoted her * Harper’s Bazaar *I read Warsan Shire’s eagerly awaited debut poetry collection, Bless the Daughter Raised By a Voice in Her Head, greedily, in one giant gulp. It surpassed my expectations, and shortly after I turned the final page of this collection, I wanted more – Sana Goyal * Guardian *Shire’s strikingly beautiful imagery leverages the specificity of her own womanhood, love life, tussles with mental health, grief, family history, and stories from the Somali diaspora, to make them reverberate universally… Enthralling… The poetry in Bless the Daughter soothes, even while it picks at the scabs of the wounds that cause trauma – Dzifa Benson * Daily Telegraph *Powerful metaphors characterise Warsan Shire’s Bless the Daughter Raised By a Voice in Her Head, a book of blessings, of ecstasy through trauma, in particular the trauma of the refugee * Irish Times *Poetry is a sure-fire way to change your mental landscape and this long-awaited collection from the Somali-British poet/Beyoncé collaborator combines poems about war and migration with celebrations of joy – Justine Jordan * ‘60 ways to turn your world upside down’ - Guardian *

Warsan Shire is a Somali-British writer and poet born in Nairobi and raised in London. She has written two chapbooks, Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth and Her Blue Body. She was awarded the inaugural Brunel International African Poetry Prize and served as the first Young Poet Laureate of London. Shire wrote the poetry for the Peabody Award-winning visual album Lemonade and Disney film Black Is King in collaboration with Beyonce Knowles-Carter. She also wrote the short film Brave Girl Rising highlighting the voices and faces of Somali girls in Africa’s largest refugee camp. Warsan lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head is her first full collection.