Hollay Ghadery : part five

What do you feel poetry can accomplish that other forms can’t?

Poetry is thought and feeling distilled and sharpened, and, I believe it’s better at achieving those intense shakubuku moments. I think of shakubuku as a swift spiritual kick to the head that alters one's perception of reality forever. A more official definition can be found with Wikipedia, which defines shakubuku as such:  “Shakubuku "break and subdue" is a term that originates in the Chinese version of the Buddhist text, Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra. The term has historically been used to indicate the rebuttal of false teachings, and thereby break negative patterns in one's thoughts, words and deeds.”

A novel can do this; so can a memoir or a short story. But poetry can do it quicker; more ruthlessly (which is not to say any less beautifully). 

Hollay Ghadery : part four

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?

I find it difficult to get my critical, editor brain to stop talking over my free-falling thoughts. And it's essential I let my thoughts free fall before my editor brain kicks in but — being the control freak that I am — the editor wants in, right away. And this insta-editing is sorta like pulling chute the moment you jump out of a plane: you may be okay, but you also might suffer from hypoxia. 

Hollay Ghadery : part three

What are you working on?

A collection of flash fiction that explores how fantasy and fantasizing subverts and challenges the expectations placed on women. Many of these stories trend toward the lyrical and fall into prose poetry of sorts. I'm also refining my collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, which will be coming out with Radiant Press in spring 2023. 

Hollay Ghadery : part two

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?

I always return to Bronwen Wallace’s collected works. Reading her poems is like coming home, but to my childhood home, where everything is brighter, clearer, more beautiful, and also more devastating — as childhood often is. Wallace's poems lift the veil and bring me closer to that unfettered, raw self I knew when I was younger. I feel like I spend most of my adult life trying to talk to that little kid.

Hollay Ghadery : part one

Hollay Ghadery is a writer living in rural Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have been published in various literary journals, including The Malahat Review, Room, CAROUSEL, The Antigonish Review, Grain, and The Fiddlehead. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions’ MiroLand imprint in spring 2021. Her debut collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, is due to be released in spring 2023 with Radiant Press. 

How does a poem begin?

For me, a poem begins with a feeling: a sticky, muddy little feeling that needs to be cleaned up. It's the job of the poem to help me bring that feeling to light.