Photo Credit: Kearra Amaya Gopee
Zahra Gordon is a poet, writer, communications professional and educator with passions for storytelling and social justice. Her career spans over a decade during which she’s championed Pan-African perspectives, been widely published, demonstrated compassion and cultural sensitivity in education, and helped organizations in the public and non-profit sectors achieve their marketing targets.
Gordon was a journalist at the Trinidad Express and T&T Guardian — where she was named 2012 Reporter of the Year — as well as a contributor to Caribbean Beat and UWI Today. Her poetry has been published in literary journals such as Amistad, Intersect, Kalyani, Mantis, phat’itude, The New Engagement and TRAUE. She has held editorial positions at Amistad, UWI Today and Welter. Her featured readings include Bocas Lit Fest, the Caribbean Studies Association Conference, Carifesta, and the Trinidad & Tobago National Library Week. A fellow of the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, Gordon was also a winner of the 2010 Furious Flower Collegiate Poetry Competition. In 2015 and 2018, respectively, her work was longlisted for the Hollick Arvon Prize for Caribbean Writers and published in the anthology Thicker Than Water (Peekash Press).
As a communications officer in the public sector, Gordon spearheaded public education programs, served on environmental and historic committees, planned high-profile events — including a luncheon for the Indian High Commissioner — in addition to public relations and digital marketing duties. She was later able to impart this knowledge to students as a tertiary Business Writing and Digital & Social Media Marketing lecturer. Gordon has also been an educator at the K-12 level, working with students to improve their reading skills both within the public school system and as an independent tutor. Gordon is an alumna of Howard University and earned her MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts at the University of Baltimore. While in the MFA program, she was awarded Klein Social Justice & Teaching fellowships, a Turner Research & Travel Grant, and was the Graduate Communications Intern at The Clifton House.
Butterfly Praxis, her thesis collection, is available for purchase here.
Zahra Gordon 