Zain Rishi for Noon

We are thrilled to be hosting one of our own booksellers for his very first poetry pamphlet, Zain Rishi!

For anyone who has had the pleasure of reading Zain's poetry before, you will know that each poem is filled with beautiful language and imagery that transports the reader. We cannot wait to celebrate - see you all there!

Two brothers wrestle, a bird lies in a young boy’s hand, an entire field lives within the eye of a needle.

Noon is a sparkling debut from Birmingham-born poet Zain Rishi, exploring home, family and faith.

From the heat of the school relay and his grandmother’s Kashmiri chai to the images of a young man kissing a city goodbye, these poems chart a coming-of-age journey across place, sexuality and family ties.

Rich in its interrogation of language and inheritance across generations, Noon announces Zain Rishi as one of the UK’s most exciting new voices.

Zain Rishi is a writer from Birmingham, UK. He graduated with a masters in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh in 2023 and has since worked in independent bookselling. He won the 27th annual Ware Poets Competition, placed third in the 2024 Oxford Poetry Prize and was highly commended in the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25. His poetry has featured in Magma, Wildness, Fourteen Poems, New Writing Scotland, Gutter, Propel and various anthologies. He is currently based in Edinburgh. Noon is his debut poetry pamphlet.