With her fifth studio album, released in December 2013, Beyoncé introduced her fanbase to the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Bey's been studying up since then: in her HBO special LEMONADE, ...

When I first heard the words “I tried to make a home out of you,” against the backdrop of a drowning Beyonce, my ears automatically recognized the mind behind the words. Raised in London, Shire was ...

London poet shows solidarity with Fahma Mohamed with poem calling on Michael Gove to involve schools in FGM campaign Warsan Shire, London's first young poet laureate, has written a poem backing the ...

So now we know who Beyonce's favorite poet is: 27-year-old Somali-Brit Warsan Shire. Shire's poetry was heard 'round the world last Saturday in Lemonade, Beyonce's latest album, dropped on HBO in the ...

Warsan Shire's poetry rocketed into public view when she collaborated with Beyoncé on the visual album "Lemonade." Sarah McCammon asks Shire about her first full collection of poetry. You might know ...

Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. Like most poems, “For Women Who Are ‘Difficult’ to Love” is best read ...

The Somali British poet on reading Goosebumps as a child, being shaped by Malcolm X and the comfort she finds in Miranda July My earliest reading memory As soon as I learned to read, I carried Raggedy ...

At the moment, 68.5 million people are displaced around the globe. Half of them are women, with families and relatives to care for and unique dangers to contend with. When we talk about refugees in ...

Excerpts from several of Shire's poems make their way onto the album, including "Grief Has Its Blue Hands In Her Hair," "The unbearable weight of staying (the end of the relationship)" and "Nail ...

In 2014, Warsan Shire was named the first Young Poet Laureate of London Beyoncé‘s Lemonade may be a visual album but it still has fans hanging on to the singer’s every word – thanks in part to the ...