Zaynab Mohammed

My Story

Zaynab Mohammed is a Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian award-winning poet, author, performer, visual artist and filmmaker.

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

Since 2020, Zaynab’s artistic practice has revolved around the theme of ‘listening’.

What is listening?

Where do we listen from?

How do we listen?

When do we listen?

Why do we listen?

These questions became her gateway into writing and producing her first 60-minute one-woman show, titled, Are You Listening?, which was later adapted into a book with Pownal Street Press.

Since 2023, Zaynab has performed her show over 20 times, in BC and most recently, at the Montreal Fringe Festival. Are You Listening? was nominated for two awards at the 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival for: best storytelling and best English script.

Her two newest projects, Poem Booth: The Podcast and Rural Stories from the SWANA diaspora are a significant pivot in Zaynab’s career. In these projects, she has created space for others to tell their story. You can find these episodes on YouTube.

Visual art played an uplifting role for Zaynab in the past years. She painted 3-murals: Olive Tree Womxn (Nelson Museum Archives & Gallery), Mandala Mural (Artisan Store, Lebanon) and our grandmothers garden, in collaboration with Smokii Sumac (900 block Edgewood ave Nelson BC. Nelson & District Arts Council). 

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.

These days you can find Zaynab in different parts of the city with her poem booth, where she writes people custom poems, on the spot, about anything they want, on her baby blue typewriter and portable desk!