Zahra’s literary journey began early. Her debut collection, The Dance of Dawn (2018), published when she was just seventeen, went on to be adopted as a set text at the University of Abuja and other institutions. With Girls and the Silhouette of Form, she not only expanded her poetic voice but also made history as the first female poet published by Masobe Books, the vibrant publishing house founded by Othuke Omniabohs.
Honestly, this first question got me thinking because during my childhood, I disliked poetry a lot. For me, it felt really boring and unrelatable. And then one day at school, we were asked to write a poem on theme of "The Sun". I was in Primary six as at that time and fortunately for me, I was perceived as a "serious" student. My only intention behind writing that poem that day was to obtain my full marks for my assessment.
Ever since I was in Nursery school, I fell in love with those nursery rhymes and songs that even at home, I was always with my book simply because I wanted to recite it.
Bash Amuneni, renowned Nigerian spoken words poet has been appointed as the new poet in residence (Poet Laureate) for the Portsmouth Football Club, an England club with 126 years of history.
However as I grew older shyness overcame the confidence that I initially had and I did not get to interact with poetry again up until I got to university.