Simultaneously, this compilation unpacks the contentious relationship that exists between Roisin and her mother, her platonic and romantic heartbreaks, and the cognitive dissonance felt as a result of being so divided among her broad spectrum of identities. but the most eye-opening were the likes of ‘on being an immigrant’, where she talks about her father, who was detained post-9/11, and ‘how to cure a ghost ii’, a reflection on modern Muslim life ( 1. Her hope is that “the more honest we are with our bodies and our own limitations, the more accepting we become of difference.

Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall). My favorites were “Golden Lube,” “Mansplain Nation,” “Rumi,” “This One’s with Teeth,” “What 9/11 Did to Us,” and “Belonging.In these short and potent stanzas she makes it clear that while she's been able to lay down the ghosts that have haunted her own self-worth, loving herself back to health after the mental and physical exhaustion of weathering constant aggressions is a long and continuous process.

n’s poetry book is a collection of her thoughts as a young, queer, Muslim femme navigating the difficulties of her intersectionality.The “ghost” she attempts to cure stands for many things: white supremacy, her mother, the patriarchy, Islamophobia, unkindness, her ancestors… Ultimately, it’s a book about survival, dedicated to survivors. was a much-needed history lesson, ruminating on the year where the Pakistani army invaded Bangladesh, committing genocide of three million Bangladeshis.

n and her mother, her platonic and romantic heartbreaks, and the cognitive dissonance felt as a result of being so divided among her broad spectrum of identities. How to Cure a Ghost explores a young woman’s journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance, and deserves to be as widely read as possible. The author speaks about her own experiences, and I feel I have no right to say if they deserve a three, four, five, star rating. In this truly stunning guided journal, Róisín addresses ableism, thin privilege, fatphobia, white privilege, and more, using empowering quotes and prompts to encourage you to appreciate the changes your body has gone through, explore beauty standards and ideals, reinforce self-confidence, and, ultimately, become the best version of yourself. Simultaneously, this compilation unpacks the contentious relationship that exists between Róisín and her mother, her platonic and romantic heartbreaks, and the cognitive dissonance felt as a result of being so divided among her broad spectrum of identities.

Some of these poems are quite lovely, and I appreciate the poem about The Keepers, as my own family has suffered sexual abuse from the Catholic Church, but rather than rising above such stereotypes she embraces them, covering her contempt for another culture by claiming discrimination against her own. There is no doubt however that the poems in How to Cure a Ghost are very personal to the author and came from the heart. I also really loved the artwork, i think the cover and inside art is really beautiful and goes with the book contents really well. Fariha Róisín uses her poems as a way to speak about what it’s like to navigate the terrain of colonialism in a brown, queer, Muslim body.

How to cure a Ghost is left me feeling very ambivalent, some poems gave me goosebumps, they felt true and vulnerable and strong while some others felt like they were written by a 13 year old angry person on tumblr. A few poems are touching, and deep - I especially enjoyed those in which she talked about her relationship with her own faith. If you’re like me, and often quick to dismiss poetry as a result of terrible required reading at school, please be reassured that there is some fucking awesome modern poetry available. A lot of it hit me really hard—Fariha Roisin is not afraid to pack a punch, but there are also some really beautiful poems about self-love and empowerment.With that being said, most of the poems just end up lacking maturity and falling into every single postmodern poetry cliche imaginable. And 400,000 women were raped ( they were not known and never will be known … r emember us, like you’d remember white death). The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Roisin's] writing is intensely vulnerable and through revealing her own experience she reflects so many others.