Doing and being is a dance of life.
So, I dance with my pen and paper
Anosha Zereh is an Afghan-born writer, poet, educator, and scholar whose work elegantly weaves together Sufi mysticism, lived experience, and the literary traditions of Central and South Asia. Raised across continents, she is especially recognized for her efforts to revive and reimagine Afghanistan’s oral and literary heritage—centering the voices and enduring wisdom of Afghan women throughout her lyrical prose, poetry, and pedagogy.
“Joy is the inner mirror softly aglow"
Anosha
Anosha Zereh's Vision
is to serve as a bridge between East and West, celebrating universal empathy and advocating for the empowerment of women, particularly Afghan women, through storytelling.
Her work is driven by a deep commitment to illuminate the struggles, resilience, and spirit of women enduring hardship, transforming voices of pain into a shared narrative of strength.
Books
The Afghan Mona Lisa
The Afghan woman has been spoken for, depicted in numerous ways since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Afghan women have been represented in the Western media, both in the television and the news broadcast copiously. They have made the Times magazine cover page, revealed in the National Geographic, and have been pronounced as victims of woman's rights. Their crime simply being born in Afghanistan as a woman in an era unfavorable to their gender. I have investigated and listened to long hours of heartbreaking stories by Afghan women in numerous countries, conversed with old and young women, and read plentiful anecdotes of Afghan women's narratives around the world for over ten years. Although I cannot claim what they have experienced completely, I have exerted years of love inscribing for them their narratives, their depiction of what took place in their lives, as well as their interpretation of their struggles and daily burdens. Although they are my words, nevertheless they represent their rightful voice. While it is my pen that was used to write these poems, in every poem, in every verse, it is the fighting potency of these women. And we witness through their lens the long-suffering echoed throughout the book in their own words. I am blessed to have been favored as an unassuming envoy for their voices.
Who Am I?
My highest aspiration in reaching the garden of Self is to attain a state of beingness where the merit of my words can be an agent of transformation. I aspire to attain the ability to communicate universal truths effectively through my words and experiences in such a way that the hearer has the capacity to nurture his or her consciousness and its limitations, a means where life and hope are renewed in the individual reader in an innate and unique manner. I seek to arrive at the door of humanity's natural beauty one step at a time, by finding a doorway to our innate wisdom together, and helping to transform a bridge that can link the gap of separation between us so we can co-create a space for a deeper connection between those lost in diffidence, remoteness, and isolation. I hope to convey this message of compassion to those in distant spaces and places with my words through this humble book.
Homecoming, A Return to Myself
Coming 2026
The time has come, when, quietly, I welcome myself— barefoot—at my own door, bathed in the soft hush of the sunrise. A pen rests between my fingers, as I catch my own reflection’s invitation, awakened by tenderness long veiled within the winding corridors of my heart’s master bedroom. Rest here, beloved heart. Taste remembrance, break the warm bread of forgiveness, sip the golden wine of laughter reborn. I return my heart to itself, luminous and whole, to the gentle stranger within who cherished me without ever departing, while I wandered through others seeking love. I have wandered across distant worlds from midnight cities to silent mountain valleys, giving and loving ceaselessly; yet the love I chased through the far corners of the universe was always my own, waiting quietly to unfold. Now I return to myself— the pilgrim and the destination one, the seeker resting at the altar of her own soul. The wind no longer calls me away, for every whisper of longing points inward. Here, within the luminous chamber of this beating heart, I am home. I gather forgotten memoirs, erase lost emails to distant loves, release sorrowful notes of longing— I lay them gently aside. Now I lift my own image from the mirror’s silver skin, and settle in, feasting in stillness upon the infinite wholeness of my heart. — Anosha Zereh Homecoming, A Return To Myself is a novel born from the quiet ache that has accompanied me through years of wandering—across countries, through seasons of loss, and into the inner corridors of spiritual searching. I wrote this poem as a blessing for my own heart, but also as an offering to anyone who recognizes the timeless longing to truly belong to oneself. The spirit of the book arose from a silent season following countless journeys as a woman, a seeker, and an architect of love—yet always searching for a love deep enough to leave one in ashes. Again and again, every pursuit of that love beyond myself led me back to a hidden, living wellspring within. This longing is both personal and universal—a call to lay down the weight of old stories, broken promises, and notes to loves whose memories have become whispers. In their place, I found a homecoming not to another person or place, but to my own awakened presence. Writing Homecoming became an act of forgiveness—an embrace of the beloved stranger within, patiently waiting to be seen. The love discovered here did not arrive from outside but from the source closer than breath itself. Ultimately, Homecoming, A Return To Myself is a celebration of returning—barefoot, honest—to the tender chamber of the heart and resting in the wholeness found there. It is the echo of my journey and my prayer that each reader may find in it their own reflection, and the grace to finally come home.
Laila's Garden
Coming 2026
Night and Flame: A Modern Laila and Majnun
Roya and Amir's journey—a burning love, a sacred friendship, the electricity of surrendered longing and self-awakening—unfolds in “The Eternal Flame is the story of Roya’s spirit coming back to life by love that sears and transforms, a connection that never leaves her lost for years. Her marriage finds new depth and her children’s laughter anchors her. The gift was never simply romance, but the vastness of surrendering to love's unknown terrain.
Reader's Reviews
"Anosha has done a great job in eloquently expressing the fearless voices of the Afghan women with their unique dimensions, aspirations, and feelings about many aspects of human conditions. Her approach stands in sharp contrast with the camouflaged and stereotypical representation of the Afghan women by the western media."
Mohammad H. Qayoumi, Ph.D.,
President, San Jose State University