I cannot be good until you say it

Poetry Collection

Intricately weaving Quranic verse, psychology, and the hip-hop soundtrack of their childhood, Sanah's poems reach for divinity in the queer body; an archive that refuses erasure.

These poems traverse unruly emotional and physical landscapes, Whiteness, islamophobia, homophobia, masculinity, intergenerational suffering, suicidality and the politics of therapeutic processes. In these pages, belief and unbelief, goodness and badness, the material and spiritual are intertwined, reclaiming queer love and desire as holy.

The book was also shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection at the Forward Prizes for Poetry 2024, The Polari First Book Prize 2025, and selected as of of The Guardian’s Best Poetry Books.

Testimonials

Selected Reviews