You may not be familiar with Warsan Shire by name, but chances are you’ve heard her work. The 27-year-old poet and activist, is one of the collaborators featured on Beyoncé’s new album.
Bey reads some of Shire’s poetry in the hour-long visual representation of Lemonade. On the album, Shire is credited as a collaborator of “film adaptation and poetry,” but long before Bey used her work, the London-based poet’s utterly brilliant writings gained popularity on social media.
Born in Kenya to Somali parents in 1988, Shire immigrated to the U.K. as a baby. According to Shire’s own description, her work reflects the “surrealism of everyday immigrant life.”
In 2011, Sire published her first collection of poetry, Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth. The work features the poem “For Women Who Are Difficult to Love,” which Bey recites on the visual production that is Lemonade.
Two years after releasing the poetry pamphlet, Shire was presented with an African Poetry Prize from London’s Brunel University. She plans to release a full collection of poetry this year.
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Photo: Instagram
