Safia Jama was born to a Somali father and an Irish-American mother in Queens, New York. A Harvard graduate and a Cave Canem fellow, she has published poetry in Reverie, Boston Review, BOMB, Cagibi, Under a Warm Green Linden and No, Dear. Safia was a semi-finalist in the Washington Prize and the Pleiades Press Editors Prize for Poetry. Recently, CUNY TV invited her to talk about her life, poetry and multiracial background for a segment of the “Shades of U.S.” series. Safia teaches at Baruch College and she offers private coaching to creative people as part of her Talent Whisperer program. She tweets @safiaPOET.

Photo credit:  Jess X. Snow