In 2012 she represented Somalia at the Poetry Parnassus, the festival of the world poets at the Southbank, London. I’m sure I didn’t like the book as much as other readers, because I’m not that good in English, but I still enjoyed it to some extent. Shire frequently draws on her own life to create her art, and the end result is a collection of poems that will shine as a beacon for marginalized communities everywhere (and, perhaps, inspire those who have always taken their own belonging for granted to think beyond the confines of their individual experience). While it is by no means her job to make a reader comfortable with her work, she misses an opportunity to more fully portray these devastating events to her reader and, therefore, respect the poems’ contents.

Bless the Daugher is a collection of a more mature author, the poems are connected through themes and characters, the poems seem more thought out. This fierce and compelling book of poems should come with a warning label: These poems will break your heart. Dangers are everywhere, such as in a traffic stop where young people are compared to ‘ an animal standing on hind legs / pretending to understand why it must die. It is absolutely astonishing how much emotion, intelligence, imagination, and truth Warsan Shire can get into one collection.Shire inverts the poem “Backwards,” forcing the reader to reorient themselves and their understanding of the piece. While she does provide a glossary for the terms, having to jump back and forth while actively reading can generate a disconnect for certain readers. It was small, raw; it was pulling your heart out while you were marveling at the beauty of the words. The long-awaited collection from one of our most exciting contemporary poets is a blessing, an incantatory celebration of survival. To say Warsan Shire’s first full-length poetry collection is ‘highly anticipated’ is an understatement.

Only then does Shire provide her readers with several jarring accounts of violence, evoking more visceral reactions. Albeit her technique seems the same: Shire is still drawing from her own life, as well as pop culture and news headlines. Sono rimasta folgorata da questa raccolta di poesia, la complessità e la varietà dei temi a comporre il mosaico di essere donne migranti, africane, nere, musulmane, divise tra la nostalgia della patria e l’adattamento al mondo occidentale, figlie rifiutate o poco amate… tanti, tantissimi argomenti, ma raccontati con pennellate folgoranti (mi ripeto ma è il termine giusto), dolorose, estremamente vivide ma mai pietose. Non metto punteggio pieno perché ho dei dubbi sulle traduzioni, che mi sembrano poco centrate e, in alcuni casi, superficiali.If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.