Ayda Niknami
British Columbia
AYDA NIKNAMI (she/they) is a Qashqai-Irani queer femme residing in so-called "Vancouver". She was the Poetry Editor for PRISM international (2024-2026), a finalist for The Bridge Prize (2024), shortlisted for The Malahat Review’s Open Season Poetry Award (2025), and published in an anthology by Guernica Editions (Woman, Life, Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution, 2025). Her writing explores Iranian diasporic subjectivity, love, and relational autonomy. Ayda holds an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC, and an MA in Philosophy from UC San Diego.