Survival Takes a Wild Imagination: Poems

(Paperback)

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In the powerful follow up to her critically acclaimed debut collection, poet and activist Fariha Risn 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 couldnt give.
This collection of poetry asks a kaleidoscope of questions: Who is my family My father How do I love a mother no longer here Can I see myself What does it mean tobeBangladeshi What is a border Innately hopeful and resolutely strong, Fariha's voice turns to the optimism and beauty inherent in rebuilding the self, and in turn, the world that the self moves through. Ubiquitous to the human experience, Survival Takes a Wild Imagination is an illuminating breath of fresh air from a powerful poetic voice.

Reviews

Survival is remembering yourself, writes Fariha Risn, and, To quiet the sounds of/scarcity/I had to learn that/I was abundant. I love these lines for their strength and sensitivity to the immense process of self-restoration that survival requires. These are poems that travel, titillate, testify, and teach. These are poems written by a poet insistent on building bridges from grief to loveit is through such movement, Risn suggests, that we may chart a course towards a future in which survival gives more than it costs.(Tarfia Faizullah, author of Seam and Registers of Illuminated Villages)

Author Bio

Fariha Risn is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Sydney, Australia, and is based in Los Angeles, California. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Her work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, and queer identities, and has appeared in the New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others.