Fariha Róisín
Author of
Who is Wellness For? (HarperWave, 2022)
Survival Takes a Wild Imagination (AMU, 2023)
How to Cure a Ghost (Abrams, 2019)
Being in Your Body (Abrams, 2019)
Like A Bird (Unnamed Press, 2020)
Fariha Róisín is a writer, culture worker, and educator.
Born in Ontario, Canada, they were raised in Sydney, Australia, and are based between Los Angeles, California and the UK. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, they are interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Their work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, degrowth and queer identities and has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others.
Róisín has published a book of poetry entitled How To Cure A Ghost, a journal called Being In Your Body, and a novel named Like A Bird which was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by NPR, Globe and Mail, Harper’s Bazaar, a must-read by Buzzfeed News and received a starred review by the Library Journal. Their first work of non-fiction Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind(HarperWave) was released in 2022, and their second book of poetry Survival Takes A Wild Imagination came out Fall of 2023.
Books by Fariha Róisín
Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind (HarperWave 2020)
The multi-disciplinary artist and author of Like a Bird and How to Cure a Ghost explores the commodification and appropriation of wellness through the lens of social justice, providing resources to help anyone participate in self-care, regardless of race, identity, socioeconomic status or able-bodiedness.
Growing up in Australia, Fariha Róisín, a Bangladeshi Muslim, struggled to fit in. In attempts to assimilate, she distanced herself from her South Asian heritage and identity. Years later, living in the United States, she realized that the customs, practices, and even food of her native culture that had once made her different—everything from ashwagandha to prayer—were now being homogenized and marketed for good health, often at a premium by white people to white people.
In this thought-provoking book,part memoir, part journalistic investigation,the acclaimed writer and poet explores the way in which the progressive health industry has appropriated and commodified global healing traditions. She reveals how wellness culture has become a luxury good built on the wisdom of Black, brown, and Indigenous people—while ignoring and excluding them.
Who Is Wellness For? is divided into four sections, beginning with The Mind, in which Fariha examines the art of meditation and the importance of intuition. In part two, The Body, she investigates the physiology of trauma, detailing her own journey with fatphobia and gender dysmorphia, as well as her own chronic illness. In part three, Self-Care, she argues against the self-care industrial complex but cautions us against abandoning care completely and offers practical advice. She ends with Justice, arguing that if we truly want to be well, we must be invested in everyone’s well being and shift toward nurturance culture.
Deeply intimate and revelatory, Who Is Wellness For? forces us to confront the imbalance in health and healing and carves a path towards self-care that is inclusionary for all.
PRAISE
“Who is Wellness For? is a crucial look at the commodification of care that’s timely and precise, yet deeply soulful. Treading a fine line between cynic and disciple, Fariha Róisín guides us through modalities of healing with a critical and compassionate eye. Who is Wellness For? is a plea for empathy, hope, and yes, self-care.” — Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter and Stray
“In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha Róisín offers no quick fixes or easy answers to processing the human condition. Yet, if truth has the power to heal, then Róisín’s work is the best kind of healing.” — Ashley Ford, author of Somebody’s Daughter
“In an age of desensitization, Fariha Róisín’s Who Is Wellness For? is an act of resistance. Stimulating, dispersive, and kaleidoscopic, Who Is Wellness For? insists on a multivalent definition of mental, physical, personal, and social wellness. Refusing any false delineations between memoir and social commentary, Róisín creates a clear yet complex tapestry that reveals the conjoined domains of self and collective.” — Jessica Dore, LSW, author of Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance and Growth
“In Who is Wellness For?, Fariha teaches us that our collective survival is miraculous, and that we need to consistently honor that blessing. Her integrity to healing shows that the work is grueling and vulnerable, yet deeply necessary. I have sobbed, sighed, and smiled while reading this book, and I am deeply moved that we get to witness Fariha hold herself while so generously guiding us toward holding ourselves too.” — Mimi Zhu, author of Be Not Afraid of Love
“In Who is Wellness For?,Fariha Róisín investigates how cultural and indigenous forms of wellness are often repackaged and resold, upholding and reinforcing colonial structures of oppression, disempowerment and cultural appropriation. So, how do we break free from Wellness Inc.? Fariha provides both an escape and a solution, allowing readers to move towards a new pathway to healing.” — Céline Semaan, founder of Slow Factory Foundation
“In this vital work, Fariha Roisin deconstructs, and then tenderly rebuilds, the concept of “wellness” with stunning insight, giving us a new, liberatory vision of what true healing can look like— not just for ourselves, but for all of us. Weaving together an encyclopedic knowledge of the wellness-industrial-complex with her own compelling journey towards healing, Roisin offers a truly holistic roadmap to a softer world. Everyone must read this book.” — Zeba Blay, author of Carefree Black Girls
"In Who Is Wellness For?, Fariha Roisin offers us a courageous and profound exploration of what it truly means to heal—ourselves, our communities, the larger culture, and the planet as a whole. With vulnerability and grace, she describes her continued healing journey, providing us with a beautiful and tender portrait of what true wellness is alongside an analysis of the many social and political realities throughout history that have shaped our shared trauma. Brave, generous, and expansive, Who Is Wellness For? provides insights and guidance for how to live compassionately for the collective." — Sebene Selassie, author of You Belong: A Call for Connection
“In this blistering blend of memoir and cultural criticism, novelist Róisín (Like a Bird) traces her path to healing as an abuse survivor and takes an unsparing look at the appropriation and corruption of Eastern spiritual practices for Western audiences. . . . Ultimately, Róisín’s answer to the question her title poses is that ‘wellness isn’t for anyone if it isn’t for everyone,’ and through vivid writing and striking curiosity, she makes a solid case for making it so. This profoundly enriching survey nails it.” — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Survival Takes a Wild Imagination (AMU, 2019)
In the powerful follow up to her critically acclaimed debut collection, poet and activist Fariha Róisín 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.
PRAISE
"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
“Her second poetry collection, Survival Takes A Wild Imagination, chronicles her personal journey from self-loathing to celebration… In short, accessible verses, she moves from shame to sexual celebration and freedom. As a survivor of abuse, she dedicates poems to others who have similarly suffered and invokes poetic muses like Audre Lorde and Joy Harjo.” — Amanda Holmes Duffy, Washington Independent Review of Books
“Survival is remembering yourself,” writes Fariha Róisín, 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 love—it is through such movement, Róisín 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
“Roisin's poems are more than poems. They are ladders out of lit fires. They are bodies in their gravity and sensuous movement. Survival Takes a Wild Imagination and it also takes other writers whose fierce reports from the distant shore of precious joy are a sign to keep swimming and striving towards words and worlds big enough to encompass the howls of both pleasure and pain.” — Sophie Strand, author of The Flowering Wand and The Madonna Secret
"Fariha Róisín’s upcoming poetry book, Survival Takes A Wild Imagination, is a powerful collection of poems that asks a kaleidoscope of questions. The poems are her way to write, pray, and claw her way out of the grips of generational trauma, and try to search for the freedom her mother never received, and the kindness she couldn’t give. I’m a huge fan of Róisín’s writing — she’s got a way with words, and I can’t wait to be swept away in this latest work from her." — Ameema Saeed, She Does The City
“Fariha Róisín’s poetry is filled with love, poignancy, strength, and the determination to choose her own course. This is how we can begin collectively healing the difficult dynamics that are so prevalent. She advises us to never forget, survival takes a wild imagination.” — Laura Moreno, The Bay Area Reporter
“Most poetry collections at this length generally move through one or two themes but Róisín’s focuses on a variety of different aspects of her life, her identity, and her faith… Although the collection is split into three sections (to hint at the ideas that connect all of the poems in that section), Róisín weaves all of the ideas, feelings, and memories she’s excavating and interrogating through one another to prove how no one experience is truly untouched by another.” — Stef Rubino, Autostraddle
Being In Your Body (Abrams, 2019)
This full-color journal from poet Fariha Róisín walks you through the process of cultivating confidence in yourself, while advocating for a broader definition of beauty for all.
What would life be like without the negativity surrounding our bodies? Body shame, reinforced by socially entrenched beauty norms and intensified by social media, is incredibly difficult to shake.
In Being in Your Body, Fariha Róisín prompts you to explore a new language for thinking about your physical self. Addressing concepts like "compare and despair" and the false connection between thinness and happiness, this journal walks you through the process of cultivating confidence in yourself.
It features sumptuous illustrations throughout and quotes contributed by a diverse array of body positive advocates, writers, and influencers, including Amanda de Cadnet, Alok Vaid Menon, Safia Elhillo, Vivek Shraya, and Jenna Wortham.
Like a Bird (Unnamed Press, 2019)
An NPR, Globe and Mail, and Harper’s Bazaar Best Book of 2020
A Buzzfeed News “Must-Read”
Taylia Chatterjee has never known love, and certainly has never felt it for herself. Growing up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with her older sister Alyssa, their parents were both overbearing and emotionally distant, and despite idyllic summers in the Catskills, and gatherings with glamorous family friends, there is a sadness that emanates from the Chatterjee residence, a deep well of sorrow stemming from the racism of American society.
After a violent sexual assault, Taylia is disowned by her parents and suddenly forced to move out. As Taylia looks to the city, the ghost of her Indian grandmother dadi-ma is always one step ahead, while another more troubling ghost chases after her. Determined to have the courage to confront the pain that her family can’t face, Taylia finds work at a neighborhood café owned by single mother and spiritualist, Kat. Taylia quickly builds a constellation of friends and lovers on her own, daring herself to be open to new experiences, even as they call into question what she thought she knew about the past.
Taylia's story is about survival, coming to terms with her past and looking forward to a future she never felt she was allowed to claim. Writing this for eighteen years, poet and activist Fariha Róisín’s debut novel is an intense, provocative, and emotionally profound portrait of an inner life in turmoil and the redemptive power of community and love.
PRAISE
"In Like a Bird, Róisín grapples with big issues, from identity to racism to sexual assault, but she does so with a lyricism and generosity that allow the reader intimate access into Taylia's experience, and the opportunity to feel the same empowerment and freedom that Taylia achieves for herself." ―Kristin Iversen, Refinery29
"In lustrous, lyrical language, multifaceted artist Róisín has written an ode to the joy and healing power of self-love. This powerful novel is highly recommended." ―Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
"Taylia’s story is one of survival and the power of community, something Róisín captures with her beautiful prose and a piercing perspective that touches on today’s political and social climate." ―Vogue
"Fariha Róisín's novel sings of building joy within sorrow and spins a gossamer reverie that clings to the consciousness... With its profound testaments to the love of found families and the courage involved in daring to open a cracked heart, Like a Bird is an unforgettable novel." ―Foreword Reviews
"Well-paced and hopeful, this stirring work will resonate with those interested in stories of young women breaking free of oppression and trauma." ―Publishers Weekly
“Like A Bird is a delicate tale of femininity, family, and trauma. Studded with jewels of poetic beauty and shaped by wisdom, this is a coming-of-age story about choosing oneself before choosing heritage–Taylia’s journey is ripe with the radical love of friendship, the power of ancestors and sisterhood, the wounds and joys of ‘the body’s ancient tapestry,’ and, as with Roisin’s other work, everything points to a sincere spirituality, a connection to and respect for the invisible world. Deeply moving and a marvel to read.” ―Aria Aber, 2020 Whiting Award Winner and author of Hard Damage
“[Roisin’s] writing is intensely vulnerable and through revealing her own experience she reflects so many others.” ―Bustle
How To Cure A Ghost (Unnamed Press, 2019)
A poetry compilation recounting a woman’s journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance, confusion to clarity, and bitterness to forgiveness
Following in the footsteps of such category killers as Milk and Honey and Whiskey Words & a Shovel I, Fariha Róisín’s poetry book is a collection of her thoughts as a young, queer, Muslim femme navigating the difficulties of her intersectionality.
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.
PRAISE
"When I first encountered Fariha’s writing, I let out a sigh of relief. Was it refreshing? Yes. But there was something more. Her words allow us to feel visible. Fariha’s writing has the power to heal and transform. She pulls you into her stories until you’re at the edge of your seat, emphatically rooting for her subjects."― Rupi Kaur
“A moving poetry collection by a queer Muslim writer exploring all the facets of her identity.”― Domino
“[Roisin’s] writing is intensely vulnerable and through revealing her own experience she reflects so many others.”― Bustle
“…a collection of poems that aims to heal..."― Vogue online
“…heart-aching and emotional while offering a sense of hope in a world that desperately needs it.”― Little Infinite
“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.”― Teen Vogue