# Warsan Shire (Warsan Shire)

> Warsan Shire, born 1988: British Somali poet, London's first Young Poet Laureate, Brunel Prize winner, and voice in Beyoncé's Lemonade.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/warsan-shire/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is she?

Warsan Shire is a Somali-British poet, writer and teacher ([Wikipedia, Warsan Shire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). The Poetry Foundation notes she was born in Nairobi, raised in London, and was the first Young Poet Laureate of London ([Poetry Foundation, Warsan Shire](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire)).

## Early life

She was born on 1 August 1988 in Kenya to Somali parents, and came to the United Kingdom with her family at the age of one ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She studied creative writing at London Metropolitan University and graduated in 2010 (same source).

## Her poems

She writes for and about people whose voices are often not heard, such as refugees and migrants ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). Her lines "No one leaves home unless / home is the mouth of a shark", from the poem "Home", have been called "a rallying call for refugees and their advocates" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She has said she works "through memory, my memories and other people's memories, trying to essentially just make sense of stuff" (same source).

Her main books are:
- **Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth** (2011), a short collection ([Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire))
- **Her Blue Body** (2015), a limited pamphlet (same source)
- **[Bless the Daughter](/en/books/bless-the-daughter-shire/) Raised by a Voice in Her Head** (2022), her first full-length collection ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire))

She has read her poems in Britain, Italy, Germany, North America, South Africa and Kenya. Her work appears in collections such as *Ten: The New Wave* (2014) and *New Daughters of Africa* (2019) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She is poetry editor at *Spook* magazine and teaches poetry workshops.

Her poems have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Estonian, among others (same source).

## Prizes and Lemonade

In 2013 she won the first Brunel University African Poetry Prize ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)). She was chosen as London's first Young Poet Laureate ([Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/warsan-shire)).

Beyoncé used her poetry in the film *Lemonade* (2016), after reading her piece "For Women Who Are Difficult to Love". Beyoncé used her work again in *Black Is King* (2020) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsan_Shire)).

## In short

A poet writing in English about Somali migration and families. See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

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