Meet Zahrah

Author. Poet. Educator. Storyteller.

Fatoumata Zahrah Amar, professionally known as Zahrah, is a poet, author, and spoken-word artist whose work explores womanhood, identity, love, grief, healing, and personal transformation.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Zahrah spent her early childhood in Senegal, West Africa, before returning to the United States at the age of ten. Her transition back to America came with the challenge of navigating a new environment and overcoming a significant language barrier. She developed her English through audiobooks, television, and an emerging love for the written word.

Long before she identified herself as a poet, Zahrah was drawn to writing. As a child, she would copy poems from greeting cards and recreate them as her own. Although she had not yet discovered her voice, she knew there was something powerful about putting words on a page.

In 2016, that relationship with writing began to evolve. While attending English class, Zahrah participated in a poetry competition organized by her teacher and earned second place. The experience became an early affirmation that writing was not simply something she enjoyed—it was a talent she could cultivate.

Later that year, Zahrah attended a Newark event hosted by Ras Baraka, where she encountered spoken-word poetry performed live for the first time. Although she no longer remembers the exact words of the poet’s performance, she remembers the impact it had on her. Inspired by the experience, she returned home and wrote her first original poem, “Exception from My Generation.”

Zahrah entered her school’s talent show at the last minute, performed the poem, and earned third place. The following year, she took her passion a step further, curating her own performance featuring a new collection of poetry. She ultimately won first place.

That experience marked the beginning of her journey as a performing poet.

Zahrah later attended Montclair State University, where she continued to refine her craft and perform spoken word at the collegiate level. Her work took her beyond her own campus, leading her to perform at other schools and within student communities, including the Haitian Student Organization, Black Student Union, and Native African Student Organization.

Following her graduation, Zahrah published her debut poetry collection, With Every Piece of My Heart, in 2023. Two years later, she released HER Renaissance, a collection of poetry inspired by the complexities of womanhood, exploring themes of love, grief, growth, sisterhood, and becoming.

Today, Zahrah continues to build her career as a writer and performing artist, using poetry to transform personal experiences into stories that resonate with others. Her work is rooted in the belief that words have the power to articulate what is often left unspoken, create connection, and remind readers that they are not alone in what they experience.

Through her books, performances, and creative work, Zahrah is building a literary legacy—one poem, one story, and one woman at a time.