Yara Kaleemah, born and raised in Newark, NJ, published her first novella 'Too Much to Chew' under Salaam Presents in 2012 and has since written and self-published 12 others including, 'Even the Bluest Eyes' as the founder of S.W.A.G Presents, LLC. Yara Kaleemah discovered her love for weaving together short stories at a young age. in fact, her first publication was a poem entitled, "I Thought I was in Love" (A Celebration of Poetry, 2004).
That is where her inspiration to tell the stories in her head was first ignited and over the years, she's learned that every little thing could be fuel for the next big idea. "Once, I was on a bus and overheard a conversation between two older women about some drama in their neighborhood. That day, I was inspired to write what would become 'Gossip Village'." Yara once told Crystal Alexis, (Owner of Sizzling Sassy Productions), writer for the former 'FE Mag' (Published, 2015). FE Mag was one of the many endeavors embarked on by, as it was then called, S.W.A.G Productions aimed at women of minorities who have faced adversities on the biases of race, religion, and/or gender. The purpose of the magazine was to encourage women to be themselves and to embrace who they are. Furthermore, the publication also included advertisements and information about other women owned small businesses from all over the country. In 2015, Yara Kaleemah and Crystal Alexis collaborated in the publication of, 'Please Don't Kill Me: An Anthology against Domestic Violence'. This anthology includes both fiction and non-fiction narratives, written by serval writers, that illuminate the fact that millions of people have experienced domestic violence and while many have survived many more have lost their lives as a result of mental, emotional, sexual, and /or physical abuse in domestic situations. Then, in 2017, she and Kristy Lynn came together
to publish 'I Can Hear Your Heart: An Anthology for Mental Illness and Suicide
Awareness'. This anthology, also featuring several writers, was created during a time when suicides were being heavily reported on social media. The idea was to share different perspectives and situations to demonstrate that mental health is impacted by socioeconomic status and other environmental factors. These two publications are meant to bring awareness to social issues that have a direct impact on everyone. Social norms are established by what will and will not be accepted by society's standards. Yara Kaleemah most definitely enjoyed hosting SWAG Radio on Blog Talk. This evening talk-show show cased authors and other entrepreneurs in a Q&A forum. The mission was to give the opportunity to talk about their work and share it with listeners. Most of the episodes were a nice vibe with some serious conversations in between. Yara Kaleemah interviewed 100+ entrepreneurs on SWAG Radio from 2015-2016. She had also co-hosted on other platforms and has been interviewed by Sapphire J Blue of Sapphire Blue Reviews and Sharnel Williams of Let’s Talk Too.