Safia Elhillo Books in Order

Safia Elhillo explores Sudanese family history, colonial inheritance, and the uncertainty of belonging across languages and borders. These poems move between Arab and African identities, using memory, imagined histories, and popular song to question nationhood, displacement, and the meaning of home.

Nima feels caught between her mother's homeland and an American suburb where she cannot find belonging. When her friendship falters, she encounters the imagined girl she might have been, forcing her to reconsider the life she has wished away.

Drawing on Muslim girlhood, family histories, and cultural myths, these poems examine the shame and violence imposed on women's bodies. Elhillo imagines rebellions and impossible survivals that open space for autonomy, collective protection, and freedom beyond patriarchal threats.

Grounded after a damaging rumor, teenage Samira turns to an online poetry community and attracts an older writer's attention. What feels like recognition becomes a dangerous secret, challenging her dreams, family relationships, and search for an artistic voice of her own.