Khadijah Ibrahiim

Hailed as one of Yorkshire’s most prolific poets by the BBC, her work appears in university journals and poetry anthologies. Her collection Another Crossing; was published by Peepal Tree Press 2014. Khadijah has performed and produced art programs in the USA, Caribbean, Africa and Asia. In 2010 she was writer in residence for El Gouna writes, Egypt, the same you she travelled to South Africa as part of the British council Verbalized sustained theatre program. In 2017 and 2019 she was short listed for the Jerwood Compton poetry Fellowship. In 2018she was shortlisted for the Sue Rider ‘Yorkshire Woman of the Year for her contribution to the arts. She is the Artistic director of Leeds Young Authors, and executive producer of the award winning documentary ‘We Are Poets’. In 2017 she was creative associate for the production Ode To Leeds at the Leeds Playhouse. Khadijah is an associate artist with the Geraldine Connor foundation ‘GCF’ and co-coordinator for inscribe readers and writers development program for Peepal Tree Press.

Khadijah’s recent commissioned work ‘Dead and Wake featured part of Word in the City and ‘Sorrel and Black cake’ A Windrush Story, a Heritage Lottery funded program as part of GCF.

Khadijah is part of Collections in Verse, Poet in the City and the British Library the commission that celebrates poets to create new work inspired by British Library exhibitions and local histories, stories and experiences. She is the recipient of Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice funding.

“Khadijah combines her rich gifts for rhythm, rhyme and rap in these wonderfully evocative poems which carry a rare authenticity, drawing as they do from lived experience. These are poems about family, friendships, love and survival – and ultimately a people’s growing awareness of their rights and worth in a society that barely welcomed them.”
Jacob Ross, author of Pynter Bender.