[Reading] Survival Takes a Wild Imagination with Fariha Róisín

We are delighted to welcome poet and activist Fariha Róisín to read from her most recent book of poems Survival Takes a Wild Imagination. Through the collection Róisín prays, claws, and scratches her way out of the grips of generational trauma on the search for the freedom her mother never received and the kindness she couldn’t give. 

About the book
In Survival Takes a Wild Imagination, poet and activist Fariha Róisín is writing, praying, clawing, and scratching her way out of the grips of generational trauma on the search for the freedom her mother never received and the kindness she couldn’t give.

Find it here: https://rile.space/books/survival-takes-a-wild-imagination-poems

About the Author
Fariha Róisín is a writer, culture worker, and educator. Born in Ontario, Canada, they were raised in Sydney, Australia, and are based in Los Angeles, California. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, they are interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Their work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, degrowth and queer identities and has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others. 

Róisín has published a book of poetry entitled How To Cure A Ghost (Abrams), a journal called Being In Your Body (Abrams), and a novel named Like A Bird (Unnamed Press) which was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by NPR, Globe and Mail, Harper’s Bazaar, a must-read by Buzzfeed News and received a starred review by the Library Journal. Their first work of non-fiction Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind (HarperWave) was released in 2022, and their second book of poetry Survival Takes A Wild Imagination came out Fall of 2023.

They are a member of Writers Against The War on Gaza.