Zuleiha Yusuf, Poet & Author

Zuleiha Yusuf is a Nigerian poet and author based in Calgary, Canada, whose work moves between identity, womanhood, vulnerability, trauma, and resilience. Her debut poetry collection, Wretched Race To Be Alive, brings together narratives and verse that question convention, explore the complexities of being a woman, and find both beauty and pain in vulnerability. Her writing invites readers to pause, look inward, and reflect on their lived and living experiences, their humanity, and the needs of the heart.

Rooted in Romanticism and drawn from real life, Zuleiha’s poetry is shaped by emotion, observation, and lived experience. She has performed her work across Nigeria and Canada and has spoken on panels in the United States about what it means to be a modern poet. Her writing has also appeared in a literary journal affiliated with Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. Through poetry, she explores the many ways we understand, reclaim, and express who we are.

Zuleiha is also the creator of Art of Zuleiha, a devoted and genuine home for art in every form it asks to take. More than a brand, it reflects her belief that creativity should be free to find its own shape, voice, and medium. Through Art of Zuleiha, she creates space for art to exist authentically, without being confined to a single form, definition, or expectation.