Asli Mahdi is an afrogoth writer of Somali descent from Ottawa. Her poems have been published in The Offing, Room Magazine, The Drinking Gourd, flo. Literary magazine, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, and have been featured onCBC’s All in a Day. Asli received her MA in Human Geography, BA in Anthropology, and SSW diploma. She currently works with the Women & HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI), based in Toronto as the Evaluation and Knowledge Translation Lead .

In her past work as the Women’s Community Developer for the Aids Committee of
Ottawa Asli created and cultivated partnerships which over a three year span were
able to pour back into the community. Some memorable community offerings have
been the Hair, Mind, Body & Soul series, ACB writing workshops with SWCHC, Soul Sisters retreats with Soul Space, and Take Back the Ball with HoP and TKBA. Asli’s community partnerships and collaborations are of support to the core of community work. Asli believes regardless of your role/sector, and or arts-based approaches allcan play significant roles in the community
Outside of writing, she is an amateur ice skater and roller skater, piercing collector,
dark lipstick devotée, eyeliner enthusiast, and Manic Panic fanatic. She is a student
of Islam, shadows and solitude.