Salma tells the story of the singular-named poet who overcame horrifying oppression at the hands of her own family. Abandoned by her mother at birth, she faced a new abandonment at age 13 when her family followed the tradition of their small Muslim community in which girls are removed from society from the time they begin menstruating to the time they are married. Locked in a room with just one small window, poetry, written on scraps of paper, became Salma’s only escape. Finally, after years of torment, Salma emerged to become a famed poet and local politician, now challenging the very archaic traditions that once imprisoned her.