Safia Elhillo صافية الحلو | |
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 Elhillo by Caits Meissner for Jellyfish Treasury | |
| Born | (1990-12-16)December 16, 1990 (age 34) Rockville, Maryland, United States |
| Education | New York University (BA) The New School (MFA) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Website | safia-mafia |
Safia Elhillo (Arabic:صافية الحلو; born December 16, 1990) is aSudanese-American poet known for her written and spoken poetry. Elhillo received a BA degree from theGallatin School atNew York University and an MFA in poetry fromThe New School. Elhillo has performed all around the world. She has won acclaim for her work and has been the recipient of several prestigious poetry awards.[1] Elhillo has shared the stage with notable poets such asSonia Sanchez and has taught atSplit This Rock[2] andTin House Summer Workshop.[3]
Elhillo was born on December 16, 1990, inRockville, Maryland, to Sudanese parents.[4] She was raisedMuslim.[5]
Her poems have appeared in many publications, includingPoetry,Callaloo, and theAcademy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day series,[6] among others, and in anthologies includingThe BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop,Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism,[1] andNew Daughters of Africa.[7]
Elhillo has shared her work on platforms such as TEDxNewYork,[8][9]Under Armour’sUnlike Any campaign,[10][11] theSouth African State Theatre, theNew Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, and TV1'sVerses & Flow.
Elhillo has been nominated for thePushcart Prize, receiving special mention for the 2016 Pushcart Prize.[12] She was a co-winner of the 2015Brunel University African Poetry Prize, won the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, and has received fellowships and residencies fromCave Canem, The Conversation,[13] and SPACE on Ryder Farm, among others. Her collectionThe January Children won a 2018Arab American Book Award, receiving the George Ellenbogen Poetry Award,[14] the first Sudanese American author to win the award.[15] In 2018, she was also listed inForbes Africa's "30 Under 30" in the Creatives category.[16] Elhillo received a 2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship fromthe Poetry Foundation.[17]
From 2019 to 2021, she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow atStanford University.[18] In 2025, Elhillo'sBright Red Fruit was aMichael L. Printz Award honor book.[19]
InThe January Children, Elhillo explores themes of belonging and identity, particularly in the context of migration and nationality.[13] In "Bright Red Fruit", Elhillo explores the complexities of identity and the longing for love using both verse and narrative.[20]
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