Selected Work
Read
A few pieces that carry the themes I keep returning to: family, memory, and what we inherit.
How to Pray at the Mosque
The Rising Phoenix Review
unlock the mouth that holds many truths
first, remove your shoes like this
cover your head, a saadar wrapped around you like this
stand in a line imam’s words fill Allah’s home like this
say, Alhamdulillahi rabil aalameen. reflect like this
forehead to the floor prostrate. connect like this
boys:
SWWIM
the ones I grew up with
those who yelled, camel jockey
terrorist
drape-thief
who doorbell ditched at night
leaving nothing but shouting dads and shivering children
The stories she was never told
FERAL
she sees her mother’s sturdy armor only after she bites
into crispy red water, falls
down on spongy breasts full of nourishing nectar
pooling in the lap, full
of regrets disguised as strawberry
juice, too full to mother
and hidden behind the sorrow, she finds
an untouched wedding dress, a faded flame
His words are plump
Panoply · prose poem
On long drives, he slices them open and shares the fruity flesh with his children. There they find pious Prophets with happy endings and young boys from villages of Pakistan who dreamed in American. And laughter. When the pain starts, the driving stops and so do the stories. But they live inside him, I know. Inside the wide chest, where when I put my head down on, and hear the beating of the heart, telling the stories, his tongue no longer tells.
shayar: how I became a poet
Two Cherries, Literary Cherry
thriving poets create art for art’s sake.
but at river’s edge, gushing white with speed
my great-grandmother once washed her husband’s clothes
scrubbing their son’s blood off the hem of his pants
after they’re killed defending home, martyrs live
in kingdoms beyond living’s sight and reach
mama: again and again
Two Cherries, Literary Cherry
I am seven.
I watch her standing in the kitchen
bright purple flowers on ink black silk
she slices and minces onions, thin and uniform
humming, singing, creating
in a stainless steel pot from the local desi shop
Media
Talks & readings
Interviews, readings, and talks — Sabina in conversation about history, poetry, and the power of storytelling.
Bookstore event · February 2026
In Conversation: Tayyba Kanwal with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
Sabina hosts debut author Tayyba Kanwal at Green Apple Books on the Park for the launch of Talking with Boys (Black Lawrence Press, 2026).
Talk · #HistoricMuslimah Ramadan series
On Malalai of Maiwand
Sabina speaks on Malalai of Maiwand — the legendary Pashtun poet and warrior heroine who led her people into battle and whose legacy lives on in the name Malala Yousafzai.
Reading
Honeyed Scents of Motherhood and Chai
Sabina reads her story from Taboos & Transgressions: Stories of Wrongdoings — an anthology she appears in alongside Kim Addonizio, Joyce Carol Oates, and Pam Houston.
