Survival Takes a Wild Imagination

Fariha Róisín 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.

"Roísín, a queer Bangladeshi Muslim, returns to poetry after her 2020 novel, Like a Bird, and her 2022 nonfiction title, Who Is Wellness For?. Her new collection takes a hopeful approach to topics including generational trauma, self-love, and freedom, while also exploring her intersecting identities." (Kristen Martin, Publisher's Weekly)