My Story

Zaynab Mohammed is a Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian award-winning performance poet, author and storyteller.

She is also an emerging filmmaker, visual and installation artist.

She was born on the coast of BC Canada and now lives in Tiohtià:ke, colonially known as Montréal, Quebec, with her dog Threshold.

Her first book, Are You Listening? (Pownal Street Press), is an adaptation of her first one-woman show, with the same title. Zaynab won the Richard Carver Award in 2022, the same year she was a BC Culture Days Ambassador.

Zaynab has painted 3-murals, Olive Tree Womxn (Nelson Museum Archives & Gallery), Mandala Mural (Why Not Shop, Maaser El-Chouf) and our grandmothers garden, in collaboration with Smokii Sumac (900 block Edgewood ave Nelson BC. Nelson & District Arts Council). Recently she has begun filmmaking after winning the ‘visionary storyteller’ award during the ‘empowered filmmaker’ course she took early 2025 offered by Telus Storyhive.

Zaynab’s work has been published with Pownal Street Press, Moniker Press, The Rising Phoenix Review, The Black Bear Review, Peace Chronicles, and Elephant Journal. She has been part of publications for ‘From The Heart’ projects and most recently ‘Passport of Witness’, an anthology of stories from Palestinians in the diaspora.

Please visit Zaynab’s Substack page, Instagram profile, and her website to learn more about her artistic practice and see her portfolio in colourful mixed media.

“Resistance is an action. It is deeper than solidarity with those who are oppressed. It is a sacrifice. I wish I could scream as loud as I can to get people’s attention. My plain words have become insignificant. Fighting against the system feels counter intuitive. I am being re-wired. How do I stay sane in this insane world?”
– Art is Political by Zaynab Mohammed 2025