{{Short description|Sudanese-American poet (born 1990)|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Safia Elhillo <br> صافية الحلو | image = Safia Elhillo by Caits Meissner for Jellyfish Treasury 2013.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Elhillo by Caits Meissner for Jellyfish Treasury | birth_date = {{birth date and age|December 16, 1990}} | birth_place = [[Rockville, Maryland]], United States | occupation = Poet | education = [[New York University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[The New School]] ([[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]]) | website = {{url|http://safia-mafia.com/tagged/main}} }} '''Safia Elhillo''' ({{langx|ar|صافية الحلو}}; born December 16, 1990) is a [[Sudanese-American]] poet known for her written and spoken poetry. Elhillo received a BA degree from the [[Gallatin School of Individualized Study|Gallatin School]] at [[New York University]] and an MFA in poetry from [[The New School]]. Elhillo has performed all around the world. She has won acclaim for her work and has been the recipient of several prestigious poetry awards.<ref name=bio>Elhillo, Safia, [http://safia-mafia.com/bio "Bio"], Safia-Mafia website, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.</ref> Elhillo has shared the stage with notable poets such as [[Sonia Sanchez]] and has taught at [[Split This Rock]]<ref>Elhillo, Safia, [https://asusjournal.org/issue-2/safia-elhillo-poetry/ "Safia Elhillo-Poetry"], ''As Us Journal'', 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.</ref> and [[Tin House]] Summer Workshop.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summer Workshop |url=https://tinhouse.com/workshop/summer-workshop-2/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Tin House |language=en-US |archive-date=June 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614065306/https://tinhouse.com/workshop/summer-workshop-2/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Early life== Elhillo was born on December 16, 1990, in [[Rockville, Maryland]], to Sudanese parents.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02wn8l7 "'Daughters full of all the wrong language'"], ''Newsday'', BBC World Service, July 9, 2015.</ref> She was raised [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Good Muslim/Bad Muslim |first=Safia |last=Elhillo|magazine= Poetry Magazine|publisher=Poetry Foundation|url= https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/149571/good-muslim-bad-muslim}}</ref>
== Career == Her poems have appeared in many publications, including ''[[Poetry (magazine)|Poetry]]'', ''[[Callaloo (journal)|Callaloo]]'', and the [[Academy of American Poets]]’ Poem-a-day series,<ref>Elhillo, Safia, [https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/how-say "how to say"] at poets.org.</ref> among others, and in anthologies including ''The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop'', ''Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism'',<ref name=bio /> and ''[[Daughters of Africa#New Daughters of Africa|New Daughters of Africa]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://haveyouread.de/podcast-8-safia-elhillo/|title=Podcast #8: Safia Elhillo|website=Have Your Read … ?|date=September 23, 2019}}</ref>
Elhillo has shared her work on platforms such as TEDxNewYork,<ref>[http://www.tedxnewyork.com/2014/ "Performances"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620024223/http://www.tedxnewyork.com/2014/ |date=June 20, 2018 }}, TEDxNewYork.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fkhC_FLUDA "'Alien Suite' | Safia Elhillo | TEDxNewYork"], YouTube, January 15, 2015.</ref> [[Under Armour]]’s ''Unlike Any'' campaign,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-under-armour-lindsey-vonn-olympics-20180206-story.html|title=Under Armour unveils Lindsey Vonn film ahead of Olympics|newspaper=[[Baltimore Sun]]|first=Lorraine|last= Mirabella|date= February 6, 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maSCeWF424k "Lindsey Vonn – Unlike Any"]. YouTube.</ref> the [[South African State Theatre]], the [[New Amsterdam Theatre]] on Broadway, and TV1's ''Verses & Flow and Maleficent journey''.
== Awards == Elhillo has been nominated for the [[Pushcart Prize]], receiving special mention for the 2016 Pushcart Prize.<ref>[http://www.onethrone.com/awards "Awards & Recognition"], ''One Throne Magazine''.</ref> She was a co-winner of the 2015 [[Brunel University African Poetry Prize]], won the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, and has received fellowships and residencies from [[Cave Canem]], The Conversation,<ref name="brooklynrail.org">{{Cite web|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2017/10/books/Everything-Lost-Will-Be-Given-a-Name-Safia-Elhillo-with-Alex-Dueben|title=Everything Lost Will Be Given a Name: SAFIA ELHILLO with Alex Dueben|website=The Brooklyn Rail|date=October 5, 2017|access-date=December 16, 2017}}</ref> and SPACE on Ryder Farm, among others. Her collection ''The January Children'' won a 2018 [[Arab American Book Award]], receiving the George Ellenbogen Poetry Award,<ref>[http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/2018.book.award.winners "2018 Arab American Book Award Winners"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321152340/http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/2018.book.award.winners |date=March 21, 2019 }}, Arab American National Museum.</ref> the first Sudanese American author to win the award.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brittlepaper.com/2018/11/safia-elhillo-takes-question-blackness-arab-identity/ |title=On Black and Arab Identities: Safia Elhillo's Arab American Book Awards Acceptance Speech|first=Ainehi|last= Edoro|author-link=Ainehi Edoro|website=[[Brittle Paper]]|date= November 12, 2018}}</ref> In 2018, she was also listed in ''[[Forbes Africa]]''{{'}}s "30 Under 30" in the Creatives category.<ref>[https://www.forbesafrica.com/30-under-30/2018/06/04/under-30-creatives/ "Under 30 Creatives"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712004930/https://www.forbesafrica.com/30-under-30/2018/06/04/under-30-creatives/ |date=July 12, 2018 }}, ''Forbes Africa'', June 4, 2018.</ref> Elhillo received a 2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from [[the Poetry Foundation]].<ref>[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/press/147758/poetry-foundation-announces-2018-ruth-lilly-and-dorothy-sargent-rosenberg-poetry-fellowships "Poetry Foundation Announces 2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships"], Poetry Foundation, August 28, 2018.</ref>
From 2019 to 2021, she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://creativewriting.stanford.edu/stegner-fellowship/meet-stegner-fellows/former-stegner-fellows|title=Former Stegner Fellows |website=Stanford University|access-date=April 16, 2025}}</ref> In 2025, Elhillo's ''Bright Red Fruit'' was a [[Michael L. Printz Award]] honor book.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-27 |title=American Library Association announces 2025 Youth Media Award winners |url=https://www.ala.org/news/2025/01/american-library-association-announces-2025-youth-media-award-winners |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=[[American Library Association]] |language=en}}</ref>
== Works ==
=== Full-length collections === * ''The January Children'' (University of Nebraska Press, 2017). * ''Home Is Not A Country'' (Penguin Random House, 2021). * ''Girls That Never Die: Poems'' (Penguin Random House, 2022). * ''Bright Red Fruit'' (Penguin Random House, 2024).
=== Chapbooks === * ''ars poetica'' (MIEL, 2016) * ''a suite for ol' dirty'' (MIEL, 2016) * ''Asmarani'' (Akashic Books, 2016) * ''The Life and Times of Susie Knuckles'' (Well & Often Press, 2012)
=== Themes === In ''The January Children'', Elhillo explores themes of belonging and identity, particularly in the context of migration and nationality.<ref name="brooklynrail.org" /> In "Bright Red Fruit", Elhillo explores the complexities of identity and the longing for love using both verse and narrative.<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |title=Bright Red Fruit |date= 2023-11-17|URL=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/safia-elhillo/bright-red-fruit/ |accessdate=2025-01-30}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://safia-mafia.com/tagged/main Official website] * [https://african.macmillan.yale.edu/news/writer-safia-elhillo-talks-representation-inspiration-and-heterogeneity-her-identity "Writer Safia Elhillo talks representation, inspiration, and the heterogeneity of her identity"], Council on African Studies, Yale MacMillan Center, November 13, 2017. * [https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/safia-elhillo Poets.org Profile]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillo, Safia}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American people of Sudanese descent]] [[Category:New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study alumni]] [[Category:The New School alumni]] [[Category:21st-century American poets]] [[Category:1990 births]] [[Category:Sudanese women poets]] [[Category:African-American poets]] [[Category:21st-century African-American women writers]] [[Category:21st-century African-American writers]] [[Category:21st-century Sudanese poets]] [[Category:Stegner Fellows]] [[Category:21st-century American women poets]]