iman ādam

is a mombasa-born writer and artist who does not believe in borders. They grew up in kenya and france and received their MFA from rutgers-newark, where they now teach. They live in jersey city.

(iman's work appears or is forthcoming in The Capilano Review, BOMB Magazine, Wasafiri, Apogee Journal, Lolwe, and elsewhere. Their poetry was selected by Bhanu Kapil as the winner of The Capilano Review's Spring 2026 Writing Contest, and their fiction is shortlisted for the 2026 Wasafiri New Writing Prize. They are also a member of the Lampblack Literary Collective, where they work on the operations team and produce an annual zine. They received a 2026 Prose Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.)

Rooted in oral literatures, Sufi metaphysics, and their experience of exile in body and country, iman's work explores the relationship between queerness and the divine, border and gender transgressions, the persistence of lineage (human and otherwise), and what happens when belief systems and bodies don't translate. They hope to break colonial logics apart through language and to make love felt in its gaps.

contact: imancochu1@gmail.com