Shahd Alnaouq is a poet and writer from Gaza. She studies English literature with a minor in translation at the Islamic University of Gaza. Before the war, Shahd wrote in both Arabic and English—poetry and personal diary entries that captured the beauty of friendship, family, and quiet mornings. She also worked as a freelancer on the platform Khamsat.
Since the war began, her writing has taken a different form. The themes of peace and belonging have shifted into reflections on genocide, displacement, bombing, fear, and loss. Yet Shahd believes that as long as she is alive, she must keep writing, to let the world hear her voice. Through her poems, she carries the echoes of a generation living through devastation, turning pain into words that refuse silence.
Currrent as of November 2025
We were sitting at the harbor / talking about university buses / about crowding / about nothing important.
Each night I wrap myself in her, begging her / not to abandon me on this long dark road.
