A Writing Contest HOSTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Sweet July
Sweet Home
By Zaynab Ahmed
FINALIST
Midsummer, sweet july
Home is a color wheel
It’s my grandfathers oranges that invite the whole room
We sit at a table that leaves no empty chairs
My grandmother’s hair brush and
my grandfathers pressed shirt neatly tucked in the blue suitcase my mother came with
Qasil powder that’s my favorite color green
Henna dyed hands a reddish brown
Home was never roses or butterflies
but birds and ducks and a stray cat that never leaves
It never gave me lemons
but dates and bread and chickpeas
In celebration of Women’s History Month in March, and the impact of strong female role models, we partnered with Ayesha Curry’s Sweet July for a writing contest to elevate the voices of girls and gender expansive young adults.
Girls Write Now participants answered a prompt from On the Art of the Craft, our 25th anniversary guidebook coming soon from HarperOne: Tell the story behind a family heirloom or tradition. How has it shaped who you are?
Zaynab Ahmed
Zaynab Ahmed is a Somali-American creative writer and poet from Minneapolis, MN. Her work is centered around the intersectionality of her identities and lived experiences as a Somali Muslim woman. She recently graduated from the University of Minnesota majoring in biology and minoring in public health. Outside of her writing, she is passionate about health equity and being a mentor to other black girls in STEM.
