Introducing Wasafiri's International Writer in Residence – Safia Elhillo

We are delighted to share that Sudanese American poet Safia Elhillo is our new International Writer in Residence from April to September 2026. 

Wasafiri was founded in 1984 in the spirit of recognising the largest possible literary community and has since platformed the voices of multilingual writers and writing that traverses linguistic and geographical boundaries. We remain committed to forging and mapping new landscapes in contemporary international writing by nurturing and championing diverse, plural, and often overlooked perspectives. Safia joins Wasafiri at an exciting time in the magazine's global outreach work. She joins as International Writer in Residence, alongside Cara Thompson (Writer in Residence), Juana Adcock (Translator in Residence), and Simone Khanyi Hadebe (Illustrator in Residence). 

Commenting on the residency, Safia Elhillo said:

‘I’m so grateful to have been appointed as Wasafiri’s International Writer in Residence and to have the space to reflect on the theme of global solidarities. Every day it seems this theme becomes more relevant to us, as our need to band together with our neighbours and our relatives across the globe becomes stronger. Thank you to Wasafiri for giving me this opportunity to explore a path forward!’ 

During her residency, Safia will lead two online workshops in September on the theme of Solidarities, aligning with Wasafiri's forthcoming autumn 2026 issue. She will also write for the magazine and Wasafiri.org. Details for the workshops will be announced this summer. 

This project is supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.

Sudanese by way of Washington DC, Safia Elhillo is the author of Girls That Never Die, The January Children, Home Is Not a Country, and Bright Red Fruit, and co-editor of the anthology Halal If You Hear Me. She has received fellowships from Cave Canem and Stanford University, and her awards include a California Book Award, the Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and an Arab American Book Award. She has been a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the LA Times Book Prize, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Her work has appeared in The Penguin Book of Migration Literature and The New Yorker, among others. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is a co-poetry editor at Callaloo and teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Antioch University.