Jamila Osman

Jamila Osman is a Somali poet and essayist from Portland, Oregon. A public school teacher for many years, she is now an MFA student at the University of Iowa. A VONA/Voices alumna, she has received fellowships from Caldera, Djerassi, and the MacDowell Colony. She was co-winner of the 2019 Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and 2019 winner of the Adirondack Review’s 46er Prize for Poetry. Some of her work can be found in the New York Times, Al Jazeera, BOAAT, Diagram, and other places. She is the author of the chapbook “A Girl is a Sovereign State,” included in New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Saba).