Her poetic experience is an anchor for all the poetesses who succeeded her in Tunisia, where Zubeïda Bchîr is a pioneer in the field of contemporary female poetry. Self-taught, she learned the Koran, Arabic grammar and was introduced to classical Arabic poetry. She showed a very early predilection for this art, despite her father’s disapproval. After her family moved to Tunis, Z. Bchîr made her voice heard as a young creator by participating in literary radio programmes under the pseudonym Lamia. Her first poetic essay “Nihâyatu qalb” [Death of a Heart] was broadcast in 1953. On Tunisian radio, her first programme is called “Murâdifât” [Synonyms] and another of her programmes, “Liqa al-ahiba” [Meeting Friends], is very successful. It was in 1968 that Z. Bchîr confirmed her poetic vocation with the publication of her collection, “Hanîn” [Nostalgia], which expresses suffering linked to the experience of fatal love through the transparency and fluidity of a simple and clear vocabulary, borrowing most of her images from experience. This success was not without controversy about the poetic authenticity of this first collection: Z. Bchîr had to vanish. For 30 years, she kept silent and only emerged in 2002 with the publication of her second collection, “Ấlā” [Graces]. Though the melancholic tone persists, one can notice the use of a metaphysical discourse that takes refuge in divine goodness, drawing all the necessary strength from her to face the cruelty of personal destiny. Poetic writing shifts towards the approach of a salvation that assures the soul to reach peace with itself and with others, despite all the suffering endured. This salutary strategy becomes, for the poetess, a new form of rebirth with “Tâir al fînîq” [The Phoenix Bird]. She now declares that she identifies with this mythical creature that is always reborn from its ashes.