IS FROM THE FORMER FULANI CALIPHATE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA.
SHE IS: A HAUSA-SPEAKING FULANI, AN AMERICAN, A SERIAL IMMIGRANT, A SOLO TRAVELER, A DUAL/GLOBAL CITIZEN.
A CROSS-GENRE AUTHOR, HER WORK APPEARS IN NEW ENGLAND REVIEW, BEST NEW POETS, AMERICAN POETRY REVIEW, PRAIRIE SCHOONER, THE IOWA REVIEW, THE YALE REVIEW, & . . .
MASS FOR SHUT-INS, HER 1ST COLLECTION OF POETRY, WON THE 117TH YALE YOUNGER PRIZE & WAS RELEASED IN MARCH 2023. PRIZE JUDGE RAE ARMANTROUT CALLED THE MANUSCRIPT “FLOWERS OF EVIL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.” IT WON THE CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD IN 2024.
IN NOVEMBER 2022, HARPER COLLINS/ECCO PUBLISHED HER TRANS-CONTINENTAL MEMOIR, A COASTLINE IS AN IMMEASURABLE THING, SELECTED AS PEOPLE’S BOOK OF THE WEEK & KIRKUS REVIEWS’ BEST NONFICTION OF 2022.
AN ALUMNA OF YALE UNIVERSITY, CAVE CANEM, & THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S WRITING MFA, SHE RECEIVED HER PHD FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
IN 2023, SHE WAS THE INAUGURAL VISITING WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS. FOLLOWING A POSTDOCTORATE FELLOWSHIP AT BROWN UNIVERSITY, SHE HELD THE 2024 MARY ROUTT ENDOWED CHAIR AT SCRIPPS COLLEGE.
SHE TURNS TO HER NEXT BOOKS AS A RESEARCH SCHOLAR AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY.
HER 2ND NONFICTION BOOK ORIGINATES A GLOBAL MYTHOS OF THE NIGERIAN DIASPORA.
HER 2ND BOOK OF POETRY HAS AN INSTINCTIVE TITLE: RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS.