In the landscape of 21st Century British poetry, few voices have resonated as clearly and forcefully as that of Sabrina Mahfouz. A poet, playwright, performer, and activist, Mahfouz brings together the personal and political with remarkable clarity. Her work reflects the realities of multicultural Britain, female identity, and political resistance. As a British poet, her contribution stands alongside other powerful contemporary voices such as Warsan Shire, Hollie McNish, and Kate Tempest (now Kae Tempest). What sets Mahfouz apart, however, is the way she fuses poetry with performance and activism, speaking directly to a generation grappling with questions of identity, heritage, and power.
This article will explore Mahfouz’s work as a 21st Century British poet, her thematic concerns, stylistic innovations, and her place among her contemporaries. It will also examine how her poetry contributes to the evolving narrative of British poetry in the modern era.
Sabrina Mahfouz
Born in South London to an Egyptian father and British mother, Sabrina Mahfouz grew up navigating a dual heritage. This bicultural upbringing is central to her work. Her poetry frequently explores themes of identity, belonging, and cultural tension. Mahfouz studied at King’s College London, where she earned a degree in English Literature and Classics, later completing a master’s degree in International Politics and Diplomacy.
Her academic training is evident in the intellectual depth of her work. Yet her poetry is never obscure or academic in tone. Rather, it remains accessible, rhythmic, and emotionally resonant. This balance between thought and feeling, between intellect and street-level immediacy, is a hallmark of her style.
Defining Themes in Sabrina Mahfouz’s Poetry
Identity and Intersectionality
At the core of Mahfouz’s poetry is a deep engagement with identity, particularly the intersections of gender, race, class, and nationality. Her poems often present voices from the margins—women, immigrants, Muslims, working-class Britons. In doing so, she questions the narratives that dominate mainstream British poetry.
Her poem “This is Not a Humanising Poem” addresses the burden placed on poets of color to represent their cultures in a palatable or educational manner for white audiences. She challenges the expectation that Arab or Muslim poets must provide “humanising” accounts to counter negative stereotypes. Instead, Mahfouz reclaims the right to write on her own terms, insisting on the complexity and multiplicity of individual experience.
Feminism and the Female Body
As a British poet, Mahfouz is unapologetically feminist. Her work frequently interrogates the ways in which women’s bodies are viewed, controlled, and politicized. In her poetry collection How You Might Know Me, Mahfouz presents monologues from four different women involved in the sex industry. The voices are distinct, complex, and layered, challenging simplistic moral narratives. She humanizes these characters without reducing them to victims or stereotypes.
This feminist commitment aligns her with other 21st Century British poets like Hollie McNish, whose work explores motherhood, menstruation, and female desire. However, Mahfouz is particularly concerned with the ways that race and class intersect with gender, making her voice uniquely urgent and relevant.
Political Engagement
Mahfouz’s poetry is also political. It speaks to a Britain divided by austerity, immigration debates, and racial inequality. In her performance poetry and written verse, she critiques the failures of government, the rise of xenophobia, and the marginalization of entire communities.
Her poem “Clean” critiques the government’s Prevent strategy, a counter-terrorism program widely criticized for targeting Muslim communities. Mahfouz questions what it means to be “clean” or “safe” in a society that criminalizes difference. This engagement with contemporary British politics is part of a broader movement in 21st Century British poetry toward social realism and political resistance.
Style and Form: Performance Meets Poetic Craft
Mahfouz began her artistic career in performance poetry. Her work is rhythmic, lyrical, and built for the stage. But it also holds up on the page. Her command of tone, diction, and pacing allows her to shift from vulnerability to anger, humor to heartbreak, within a few lines.
Unlike some performance poets who struggle to translate their work to the written form, Mahfouz excels in both media. Her printed collections retain the dynamism of her live performances. The result is poetry that feels alive, urgent, and embodied.
Her use of voice is especially notable. Mahfouz often writes in the first person, channeling distinct speakers who reflect different social positions.
These voices are rendered with empathy and precision. Whether writing as a sex worker, an immigrant, or a disillusioned young Briton, Mahfouz captures the emotional and linguistic nuances of her characters.
A Comparison with Contemporary British Poets
To understand Mahfouz’s place in 21st Century British poetry, it is helpful to compare her with other poets of her generation.
Warsan Shire
Warsan Shire, a Somali-British poet, is perhaps the most famous young British poet of the moment, especially after her work was featured in Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Like Mahfouz, Shire explores themes of migration, exile, and female experience. Both poets write from diasporic perspectives and foreground the voices of women. However, while Shire’s poetry leans toward the lyrical and elegiac, Mahfouz often adopts a more direct, confrontational tone.
Hollie McNish
McNish is another important voice in British poetry, known for her candid explorations of motherhood and sexuality. Like Mahfouz, she began in spoken word and has crossed into literary publishing. McNish’s tone is often conversational and confessional, while Mahfouz tends toward political critique and character-driven monologue. Both, however, share a commitment to making poetry accessible and socially relevant.
Kae Tempest
Kae Tempest, a non-binary poet and performer, shares Mahfouz’s interest in fusing poetry with music, theatre, and activism. Their work often depicts urban life, alienation, and spiritual longing. Tempest’s style is more mythic and narrative-driven, while Mahfouz focuses more on individual character sketches and social critique. Yet both are central to the resurgence of performance-based British poetry in the 21st century.
Expanding the Reach of British Poetry
Mahfouz is not only a poet; she is also a playwright, screenwriter, and editor. She curated the anthology The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write, which brought together poetry, fiction, and essays by Muslim women in Britain. This groundbreaking collection challenged the dominant narratives about Muslim identity in the West and provided a platform for underrepresented voices.
By working across genres, Mahfouz helps to expand the reach of British poetry, bringing it into new spaces and to new audiences. Her work in theatre and television introduces poetic language to viewers who might never read a poetry collection. She shows that poetry can be a living, public, and politically engaged form.
Cultural and Political Contexts
To fully understand Mahfouz’s work, one must consider the broader cultural and political context in which she writes. The early 21st century in Britain has been marked by major events: the Iraq War, the London bombings of 2005, the Brexit referendum, austerity policies, and the rise of right-wing populism. These events have shaped the experiences of British citizens, especially those from immigrant or Muslim backgrounds.
Mahfouz’s poetry is a response to this reality. It is both a mirror and a challenge—a reflection of lived experience and a call for change. Her work underscores the importance of poetry as a space for truth-telling, resistance, and re-imagining.
Critical Reception and Legacy
Critics have praised Mahfouz for her originality, emotional depth, and political commitment. She has received numerous awards, including the Sky Arts Futures Fund Award for her poetry and the Westminster Prize for New Playwriting. Her inclusion in anthologies, syllabi, and literary festivals signals her growing influence within the literary world.
As a 21st Century British poet, Mahfouz is helping to redefine what British poetry can be. She brings the voices of the marginalized to the center, insists on complexity and nuance, and challenges conventional forms and subjects. Her poetry is not just art—it is action.
Conclusion
Sabrina Mahfouz represents the best of 21st Century British poetry: bold, inclusive, experimental, and engaged. She writes as a British poet who understands the multiplicity of British identity—its tensions, contradictions, and possibilities. Her work reflects a Britain that is changing, diverse, and often divided. But it also offers hope, solidarity, and beauty.
In comparing her to her contemporaries—Shire, McNish, Tempest—we see a generation of poets who are expanding the scope of British poetry, both in terms of subject matter and audience. They are taking poetry out of elite spaces and into the lives of ordinary people. They are using poetry to protest, to connect, to heal.
For Mahfouz, poetry is a means of survival and resistance. It is a way to speak back to power and to honor the stories that are often silenced. As such, her contribution to 21st Century British poetry is not just significant—it is essential.
Sabrina Mahfouz is more than a writer; she is a force in contemporary literature. Her work will continue to shape and inspire British poetry for years to come.
