Zara Shams is a writer based in the South of England. Her work has appeared both in print and online.
PUBLICATIONS:
Chapbook:
There is No Such Thing as a Woman. (Zoetic Press, 2018). Print.
Poetry:
Blood Moon. Noble/Gas Qtrly (Issue 205.3, 2018).
The Bruise. All Roads Will Lead You Home (Visual Arts Collective 2018).
Splitting California. Sonder Midwest (Issue 2, 2018). Print.
Freeway. Cosumnes River Journal (Issue 13, Spring 2019). Print.
Sober. littledeathlit (Issue 2, Spring 2019).
The Quinta. The Finger Literary Journal (Fall 2019). Print.
Mama the Insomniac. Formidable Woman Sanctuary (Issue 1, Vol. 2 Spring 2020).
The Bruise. Snapdragon (Empty/Enough, Fall 2020). Reprint.
Beheading Daisies. West Trade Review (Online Exclusive, Fall 2020).
The Farmhouse. Just Place (Chapbook, Fall 2020).
Space Monkey. Enthusiastic Press (Unheard Of, 2020).
These Things Fall Apart. Pennsylvania English (Issue 40.2, 2020).
Airport Security and Other Stories. [upcoming issue] (The Bookends Review 2021).
Projects credited in
- Poetry Prompt Visual Branding@poetry.prompt is an online community which encourages people to write and share poetry. I worked with the creator of the platform to produce a new logo and Instagram template to elevate their brand visuals. Using hand drawn ink illustrations with cool-toned acrylic wash, I created custom artwork to fit in with a 'fly on the wall' theme.
- I Don't Want To Talk About It | Issue 05 | Free the VerseWe published "I Don't Want To Talk About It" in March 2023. Free the Verse is a quarterly poetry magazine. Since our inception, we've published an issue every quarter, plus weekly poet interviews. Interested in joining the community? Our submissions are open now. “I Don’t Want To Talk About It is an issue about loud absences. Our contributors are observers of the unspoken: they each sense something moving beneath the surface and choose to bring it into the open.” — Zara Shams, Executive Editor
- The Way Back | Issue 03 | Free the VersePublished in October 2022, this was Free the Verse's very first autumn issue, featuring 16 poets from around the world.
- Feast | Issue 04 | Free the VerseFeast was our first winter issue, published on Dec 31st, 2022. Darker than our previous issues, Feast set the tone for more daring themes in 2023.
- High Tide | Issue 02 | Free the VerseOur first summer issue, High Tide, featured 16 poems from poets all around the world.
- Roots | Issue 01 | Free the VerseRoots was our very first issue. Published in May 2022, it included poems from 27 brilliant poets across the world, many of whom we've since interviewed for our website.
Work history
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Product ManagerUni Compare
London, United KingdomFull Time
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Associate Product Delivery ManagerDo Nation
- London, United KingdomFull Time
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Skills
- Poetry
- Content and Media Writing
- Editing Copy
- Editing Proofreading
- Editiorial
- Microsoft Office
- Copywriting
- Journalism
Education
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History MA - First Class Honours The University of Edinburgh
- Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Dissertation title: "The Prisons of Our Bodies": Poetic Constructions of the Female Body as a Site of Oppression and Resistance in Zia's Pakistan
Courses:
Conquer or Die: African Americans Writing US History
Gandhi and Popular Movements in India 1915-1950
Black Nationalism in America
The American South Since the Civil War
No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Long History of Donation
Making Histories: Current Theories in Writing History
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A LevelsArdingly College
- Ardingly, Haywards Heath RH17, UK
A Levels | June 2016 I AAA
History, Economics, English
AS Levels | June 2015 | AAAA
History, Economics, English, Art
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Awards
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Protest PoetryThe Poetry Society
First-prize winner in Ankita Saxena's protest poetry challenge held by the Poetry Society: there is no such thing as a woman published on YPN.C
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Jack Grapes Poetry PrizeCultural Weekly
Semi-finalist in Cultural Weekly’s Jack Grapes Poetry Prize (2018).+ Show more