Noor Unnahar is a young female voice with power and depth. The Pakistani poet’s moving, personal work collects and makes sense of the phases of collapsing and rebuilding one’s self on the treacherous modern path from teenager to adult. Tinged with the heartbreak of a broken home and the complexity of a rich cultural background, yesterday i was the moon stands out from the Insta-poetry crowd as a collection worth keeping.

yesterday i was the moon centers around themes of love and emotional loss, the catharsis of creating art, and the struggle to find one’s voice. Noor’s poetry ranges from succinct universal truths to flowery prose exploring her heritage, what it means to find a physical and emotional home, and the intimate and painful dance of self-discovery. Her poetry and art has already inspired thousands of fans on Instagram to engage with her words through visual journal entries and posts of their own, and her fan base only continues to grow.