About

Working as a traditional artist with watercolor and ink, Zahra creates work that reflects her cultural roots in Kuwait as well as her life now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She loves poetry and independent cinema and how quiet and mysterious the night is. She is deeply fond of the sea.

Her debut picture book, Where Butterflies Fill the Sky, was published by Bloomsbury Books and named one of the New York Times / New York Public Library’s 10 Best Illustrated Books as well as NPR’s Best Books of 2022. The week before receiving the Dilys Evans Founders Award from the Society of Illustrators, she was honored with an award by the UN Human Rights Commission for creating art that brings visibility to statelessness, indigenous groups, and minority rights.

Represented by Anne Moore Armstrong at The Bright Agency

Original art available through me or with Frank Rose at Hecho Gallery

Books:

Where Butterflies Fill the Sky | Bloomsbury Publishing NYC
29 March 2022

The Sunflowers | Feiwel and Friends
Fall 2024

Sakina and the Uninvited Guests | Bloomsbury Publishing NYC
2024

The Goldfish written by Katherine Arden | Astra Books for Young Readers
Fall 2024

Fishermans New Year | Bloomsbury Publishing  NYC
2025