#JayLitSpotlightSeries: Zaynab Iliyasu Bobi

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The oral tradition of Northern Nigeria laid a literary foundation for young Zaynab Iliyasu Bobi. She grew up listening to folktales and enjoyed the thrilling traditional games such as bogi-bogi and ten-ten, very much unlike the Western Literature she encountered later in adulthood.

Zaynab is a Northern Nigerian writer and the 2024 Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize winner, who grew up in a quiet, diverse area of Abuja. There, serenity and calmness shaped her poetry, lending it soft tones even as she writes about heart-wrenching themes. According to her, through her writing, she wants to pass on the blessings given to her by her parents, who ensured a comfortable life for her and her siblings. 

A baby picture of Zaynab

Unlike many writers, Zaynab didn’t start writing at a young age. She began navigating her writing journey when she visited the Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation Center at Hilltop Model School in Minna, Niger State. There, her encounter with spoken word videos featuring poets such as Yusrah Dzukogi, Havfy, Zainab Kuyizhi, and Peter Kwange sparked her interest in poetry. She left the Hilltop center with a heart brimming with joy for finding a place she strongly knew she belonged.

The Hilltop centre gave her the realization that the thoughts she had scribbled into her book on a quiet and calm hour night in 2017 was indeed poetry. After making unforgettable memories at the center, she became more intentional in her writing journey. Poetry had always been present in the folktales and songs she had absorbed as a child while growing up in a core Northern Nigerian household. Today, Zaynab’s works have transcended the walls of her room to resonate with readers across the globe. Her works capture personal and communal stories of loss, survival, and resistance to anything that stretches humanity to a breaking point.

Zaynab at a gathering of Abuja writers in 2024, with Shedrack Akanbi, Abu, Plangdi, and others. (Photo credit: AWG)

As our immediate environment shapes one’s identity and perception, Zaynab finds inspiration in her language—Hausa. Every day, she is reminded of how linguistically rich her mother tongue is and how greatly it has influenced and enriched her poetry. Other inspirations include her environment, which actively enriches her with the images that later appear in her poems. Additionally, watching dialogue-rich movies and attending literary gatherings also provide her with inspiration in.

Her major influences have been Warsan Shire, whose poems taught her a great deal since she became intentional about developing her craft, and Leila Chatti, a brilliant poet. Recently, she developed a keen love for the language of Virginia Woolf and Natasha Trethewey.

Zaynab with the Nigerian poets (Top L-R) Saddiq Dzukogi, Ajibola Tolase, Adedayo Agarau (Bottom L), at Cave Canem Retreat in June 2025. (Photo credit: CC Fellow)

According to Zaynab, her breakthrough wasn’t a glorious moment of winning prizes but on a cold night in 2017, when the loudness in her head pushed her to pick up a pen and write. As of the time of this writing, Zaynab’s poems have been published in many reputable magazines across the world, such as Chestnut Review, Uncanny Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, West Trade Review, among others. Her debut collection, Cadaver of Red Rose, won the 2024 Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize, making her the second Nigerian writer to win the prize, following Wale Ayinla’s To Cast a Dream in 2021. In June this year, she released her second chapbook titled Uncensored Snapshots, a poetry collection that stands as a powerful record in a time when “media is often silenced by censorship.” All these are a testament to her literary prowess and skill.

Zaynab reading at Cave Canem Retreat in June 2025. (Photo credit: Courtney Taylor-Faye)

In June 2025, Zaynab was selected among fifteen other writers to attend the 2025 Cave Canem week-long residency at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, USA, where she experienced career development through a rigorous and affirming workshop, craft talk, faculty lectures, and public reading.

Of her proudest and most thrilling moments as a writer, she lists winning the inaugural Akachi Chukwuemeka Prize for Literature in 2023 and the 2024 Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize, as well as emerging as the first beneficiary of the Carolyn Micklem Scholarship.

As Zaynab continues to read and write, she hopes her full-length collection hits the shelves when it is ready. Her goal is simple: to be an established writer and win prizes and accolades that will benefit the world, her career, and also live a quiet life in a peaceful place, surrounded by love.

(L-R) Yusrah Sunusi, Abduljalal Musa Aliyu, and Zaynab after her Cadaver of Red Roses and Abduljalal’s Encyclopedia of Dolor book chat at 2024 Kano International Poetry Festival (KAPFEST). (Photo credit: Marshal)
(L-R) Sada Malumfashi, Zaynab, and Abu Bakr Sadiq in a panel discussion hosted by Carl Terver at 2024 Kano International Poetry Festival (KAPFEST). (Photo credit: Marshal)
(L-R) Zaynab, RMG, Abu Bakr Sadiq, and Razaq Malik Gbolahan at 2024 Kano International Poetry Festival (KAPFEST). (Photo credit: Marshal)
Zaynab (L) with Joy Priest, author of Horsepower, at Cave Canem Retreat in June 2025. (Photo credit: CC fellow)
Zaynab (L) with Toi Derricotte, one of the founders of Cave Canem and Derricotte-Eady Chapbook Prize at Cave Canem Retreat in June 2025. (Photo credit: Imami Davis)
Zaynab (L) with one of her Professors at Brown University, Matthew Shenoda, during 2025 Cave Canem Retreat.
(Photo credit: CC fellow)
Zaynab at 2024 Kaduna Book and Arts Festival. (Photo credit: Majeed Saleh)

Sarah Adeyemo

Sarah Adeyemo

Sarah Adeyemo, SWAN IX, is a Nigerian poet, writer, editor, spoken word artiste and communication expert. The debut author of “The Shape of Silence”. She draws inspiration from solitude and experiences. She is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Her works appeared or are forthcoming in The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press, Poems For Persons Interest, TV-63 Magazine, Northern Writers Forum Journal, Eboquills, Rinna Lit. Anthologies, and elsewhere. She's a member of the Swan Collective. She tweets @SarahInkspires.