Mona Arshi

Mona Arshi is a poet and writer. She previously worked as a Human Rights Lawyer. Her debut collection Small Hands (Pavilion Poetry, 2015) won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2015. Her second collection Dear Big Gods was published in April 2019 (Pavilion Poetry).

Her poems and interviews have been published in The Times, The Guardian, Granta and The Times of India, as well as on the London Underground. During 2021 Mona was poet in residence in a bird sanctuary in Cley Marshes, Norfolk.

Her debut novel, Somebody Loves You, was published in 2021 by And Other Stories. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Jhalak Prize, and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, and the Republic of Consciousness Prize.

Photo courtesy of Karolina Heller