Erica Hiroko Isomura's Reading Recommendation:
A book I return to over and over again is forage by Rita Wong (Nightwood Editions, 2007).
In this collection of mostly prose poems, Wong draws close attention to what most choose to ignore, singing and shouting to oppose colonial-capitalist economies of scarcity, fear, and violence against the land and its people. When poetry is described as urgent and necessary, I believe they are talking about collections like these.
the meds are administered on time every night. if reading can save even one life. one loose woman somewhere in the bowels of the obscene "correctional centre." who criminalized survival? the life you steal might be your own.
—excerpt from "vessels" poem in forage by Rita Wong.
ERICA HIROKO ISOMURA is a writer, artist, and cultural producer. In 2021, she received Room’s Emerging Writer Award and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize. Isomura is working on a book of essays, a poetry collection, and a series of conversations among multi-generational, racialized artists in Canada. ericahiroko.ca. Her poem "re:birth" will appear in the upcoming BIPOC Solidarities Special Issue of The Fiddlehead. Pre-order your copy today!
Keep an eye on The Fiddlehead website and social media pages for information about our online launch of the BIPOC Special Issue, coming soon!
Add new comment