by Fariha Rs匤 (Author)
In the powerful follow up to her critically acclaimed debut collection, poet and activist Fariha Rs匤 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.
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 to be Bangladeshi? 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.Author Biography
Fariha Rs匤 is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Sydney, Australia, and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Since debuting as an author in 2019, Fariha has published a wide range of publications, including books of poetry (How To Cure A Ghost, 2019), a journal (Being In Your Own Body, 2019), a novel (Like a Bird, 2021), and a journalistic non-fiction memoir (Who Is Wellness for? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind, 2022). Collectively 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. Survival Takes a Wild Imagination (2023) is her second book of poetry.