Khadro Mohamed is a writer and poet residing on the shores of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her poetry collection, We’re All Made of Lightning, is an incredible debut book and a rich exploration of nature, food, family and identity. This book is “a love letter to her homeland, her whakapapa, and herself” -quoted from We Are Babies.
Khadro was kind enough to drop into Te Awe library to chat about her new book, her writing process and how we can only hope to cook as well as our mum. You can check out the interview, and the books mentioned, below! Thank-you to Khadro and also We Are Babies for letting us feature a poem from this collection.
We’re all made of lightning / Mohamed, Khadro
“Khadro Mohamed expertly navigates the experience of being a Muslim women in Aotearoa, bringing us along on her journey of selfhood. Shifting between Aotearoa, Egypt and Somalia, we get a glimpse into her worlds, which are rich and full of life. Mohamed has a sense of wonder for the world around her, exploring nature, food, family and identity. This book is a love letter to her homeland, her whakapapa, and herself.” (Catalogue)
Homie : poems / Smith, Danez
“Homie is Danez Smith’s magnificent anthem about the saving grace of friendship. Rooted in the loss of one of Smith’s close friends, this book comes out of the search for joy and intimacy within a nation where both can seem scarce and getting scarcer. In poems of rare power and generosity, Smith acknowledges that in a country overrun by violence, xenophobia, and disparity, and in a body defined by race, queerness, and diagnosis, it can be hard to survive, even harder to remember reasons for living. But then the phone lights up, or a shout comes up to the window, and family–blood and chosen–arrives with just the right food and some redemption. Part friendship diary, part bright elegy, part war cry, Homie is the exuberant new book written for Danez and for Danez’s friends and for you and for yours.”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
Don’t call us dead : poems / Smith, Danez
“Smith’s unflinching poetry addresses race, class, sexuality, faith, social justice, mortality, and the challenges of living HIV positive at the intersection of black and queer identity. The collection opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved on earth. “Dear White America,” which Smith performed at the 2014 Rustbelt Midwest Region Poetry Slam, has as strong an impact on the page as it did on the spoken word stage. Smith’s courage and hope amidst the struggle for unity in America will humble and uplift you.” (Catalogue)
Small hands / Arshi, Mona
“Mona Arshi’s debut collection, ‘Small hands’, introduces a brilliant and compelling new voice. At the centre of the book is the slow detonation of grief after her brother’s death, but her work focuses on the whole variety of human experience: pleasure, hardship, tradition, energised by language which is in turn both tender and risky. Often startling as well as lyrical, Arshi’s poems resist fixity; there is a gentle poignancy at work here which haunts many of the poems. This is humane poetry. Arshi’s is a daring, moving and original voice. – Publisher’s description.” (Catalogue)
