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How to Cure a Ghost: Poems
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.
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.
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2019
257 people are currently reading
19234 people want to read
About the author
Fariha Róisín
8 books219 followersFariha Róisín is a writer, culture worker, and educator.
Born in Ontario, Canada, they were raised in Sydney, Australia, and are based in Los Angeles, California. 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 (Abrams), a journal called Being In Your Body (Abrams), and a novel named Like A Bird (Unnamed Press) 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.
They are a member of Writers Against The War on Gaza.
Born in Ontario, Canada, they were raised in Sydney, Australia, and are based in Los Angeles, California. 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 (Abrams), a journal called Being In Your Body (Abrams), and a novel named Like A Bird (Unnamed Press) 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.
They are a member of Writers Against The War on Gaza.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews
October 1, 2019
This book represents all the tumblr poetry cliches of 2019:
Yes This White Person Really Said This Thing To Me
this time dad, you're wrong
I Don't Give A Fuck About What White People Say To Me
somehow misogynistic dual idolization/tear down of your mother
trauma fetishization
Referring to all women as femmes
assuming mantel of ancestral struggle that has nothing to do with you
sexual mangoes
Beautiful illustrations throughout!
Yes This White Person Really Said This Thing To Me
this time dad, you're wrong
I Don't Give A Fuck About What White People Say To Me
somehow misogynistic dual idolization/tear down of your mother
trauma fetishization
Referring to all women as femmes
assuming mantel of ancestral struggle that has nothing to do with you
sexual mangoes
Beautiful illustrations throughout!
June 6, 2021
I'm not really someone that reads much poetry so i'm perhaps not the best person to review this.
That being said i found some of these poems to be beautiful and captivating and others were perhaps a bit weaker and left me confused.
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.
That being said i found some of these poems to be beautiful and captivating and others were perhaps a bit weaker and left me confused.
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.
November 24, 2019
beautiful illustrations... the poetry though.
July 5, 2021
Fariha Roisin's poetry is beautiful and fearless. The struggles she faced as a queer, young Muslim woman puts into focus the parallel strife of the everyday brown woman. Highly recommend!
.........
"Yet, I remain perversely stagnant,
Not allowing myself to transform,
Afraid of losing.
I stay, stunted, awaiting my alluvial fate.
I just want to be saved. "
.......................
"But what i dont understand
Is this: why we hate others complexities
But expect to be seen in our own.
why we expect love but can't give it?"
.........
"Yet, I remain perversely stagnant,
Not allowing myself to transform,
Afraid of losing.
I stay, stunted, awaiting my alluvial fate.
I just want to be saved. "
.......................
"But what i dont understand
Is this: why we hate others complexities
But expect to be seen in our own.
why we expect love but can't give it?"
May 26, 2020
Tale as old as Milk & Honey: brown women damaged and gaslit by white men in the way only they can do in a relationship context. I’m acutely familiar with that, more times than I’d care to admit, so I couldn’t help but really relate to and enjoy some bits. (So. 2 stars) What this needed was an editor. There were some stanzas and lines that were just not very good and read more like a tumblr rant than a thought-out piece of work. I’m being a bit demeaning in the first sentence since many poems are not like that, and she talks a lot about her complicated identity and relationship with colonialism. The thing is that those poems weren’t that great and the solipsistic emotional ones were her mediocre best.
February 15, 2020
These poems are about experiences as an immigrant and Muslim. They were heartbreaking, beautiful and empowering. Some pieces made me feel seen. Many more told much needed stories that people need to know. Other reviews said it better: it packed a punch and asked me to hold my heart.
November 3, 2019
4.5* stars. this book ripped my heart out of my body, put it in my hands, and said “okay now do something about it.” in the best possible way.
April 28, 2022
1.5 ☆
I cannot rate someone's life experiences, but I can rate their poetic language, arrangement, sensitivity, since all of them are publicly open.. and all that didn't work out for me. The language was foul at times and it took out the sensitivity it was meant to express. However, I felt the rage and grief those words tried to transmit. They reached me, but not in the way I expected them to. I can only hope the author was able to forgive those who wronged her and heal her generational trauma.
The cover and photos were gorgeous, as well as some bits here and there.
I cannot rate someone's life experiences, but I can rate their poetic language, arrangement, sensitivity, since all of them are publicly open.. and all that didn't work out for me. The language was foul at times and it took out the sensitivity it was meant to express. However, I felt the rage and grief those words tried to transmit. They reached me, but not in the way I expected them to. I can only hope the author was able to forgive those who wronged her and heal her generational trauma.
The cover and photos were gorgeous, as well as some bits here and there.
December 14, 2019
Felt like this needed to be personal essays more than poetry.
January 23, 2020
3.5⭐️, rounded up to 4.I don’t read a lot of poetry & am therefore not comfortable writing an in depth review. But what’s important is I enjoyed this work! 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. I learned new things & I found moments that resonated with me. I recommend for fans of Fatimah Asghar’s If They Come For Us.
January 17, 2020
This collection just didn't do it for me. Though some of them I did find moving and poignant, those few did not make up for most of the collection.
May 23, 2020
Farina Roisin lacks maturity in these poems.
It's fine to "find" yourself, but you can't blame the white people. I myself am white, and I've never met her, nor harmed her in any way. Blaming the "bad white folk" is the same type of discrimination that Roisin herself rails against in this book.
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.
If Fariha Roisin does not want to be judged for how she looks than she needs to work on not judging others by the same stereotypes.
It's fine to "find" yourself, but you can't blame the white people. I myself am white, and I've never met her, nor harmed her in any way. Blaming the "bad white folk" is the same type of discrimination that Roisin herself rails against in this book.
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.
If Fariha Roisin does not want to be judged for how she looks than she needs to work on not judging others by the same stereotypes.
May 10, 2021
A few poems are touching, and deep - I especially enjoyed those in which she talked about her relationship with her own faith. The illustrations also add a nice touch and bring depth to certain themes discussed in the poetry collection.
With that being said, most of the poems just end up lacking maturity and falling into every single postmodern poetry cliche imaginable. 90% of them look like something you could easily find on Tumblr a couple of years ago.
The underdeveloped metaphors along with the insistence of talking about the same themes that have already been discussed in plenty of other poetry collections before made me give this book only 1 star - it brings to the literary scene absolutely nothing new.
With that being said, most of the poems just end up lacking maturity and falling into every single postmodern poetry cliche imaginable. 90% of them look like something you could easily find on Tumblr a couple of years ago.
The underdeveloped metaphors along with the insistence of talking about the same themes that have already been discussed in plenty of other poetry collections before made me give this book only 1 star - it brings to the literary scene absolutely nothing new.
March 14, 2022
It always feels weird to rate a book like this, so personal. 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. I can't rate a life, and although I understood and resonated with some of the poems, or some bits of them, they don't speak about my own experiences.
I can say, however, that the poems encapsulate her feelings in a gut-twisting way. While reading, you can feel her pain, her hurting and grief. I can't dive deeper into the meaning of the poems because they feel as a way to deal with her own trauma and feelings, and it feels wrong to rate them when I have not shared similar experiences.
I can say, however, that the poems encapsulate her feelings in a gut-twisting way. While reading, you can feel her pain, her hurting and grief. I can't dive deeper into the meaning of the poems because they feel as a way to deal with her own trauma and feelings, and it feels wrong to rate them when I have not shared similar experiences.
July 2, 2022
yes, topics such as race, generational trauma, immigration, etc. are very important and should still be addressed… i just don’t think this is how i’d like to read about them personally. this felt like a very twitter thread-y take on these topics with an occasional sprinkle of SAT words. though some poems were very personal (i particularly liked “rumi” and “self portraiture”), the entirety of the book was distancing, and began to feel repetitive for me at around 30%. yes, such topics are “haunting” so maybe that’s a part of it.. but this sort of repetition felt redundant to me.
i think if roisin has written essays/prose i am more likely to enjoy that than her poetry.
i think if roisin has written essays/prose i am more likely to enjoy that than her poetry.
December 6, 2022
This book is really aesthetically beautiful— the pages are colorful, the illustrations are gorgeous— but unfortunately that’s all it has going for it. I really hate being so judgmental about poetry because I’m sure this really means something to the poet, but it’s so disheartening to read poetry like this that has no understanding or appreciation of form or rhythm. Why the lowercase? Why does the line break there? What does it say? What does any of this say? What does it TRULY say that couldn’t be said in a tweet or a tumblr post? So many modern poets just do not get it and it makes me want to tear my hair out. Please take one poetry class, PLEASE.
February 19, 2020
To be completely honest, so far I find myself finding bits and pieces of her works that are really nice; complimentary in a way. Though, I feel like they drag on too long?? Majority of her works are completely killed by unnecessary cringe worthy instagram lines. I truly felt as if it fell short of what it was promised to be.
to-buy
March 9, 2020Kendall Jenner was spotted reading this book.
June 15, 2021
loved & related to the themes of the poems, but disliked the style.
May 5, 2020
This isn’t a flowery, fluffy book of poetry. It’s very raw and intense and lovely in its wit. My favorites were “Golden Lube,” “Mansplain Nation,” “Rumi,” “This One’s with Teeth,” “What 9/11 Did to Us,” and “Belonging.”
May 23, 2021
A mix of brilliant verses and tumblr poems...I feel that if this were more condensed, without the filler tumblr-esque poetry, it would be a true gem. It's as if someone put two poetry books together for some reason. But the good parts are gut wrenchingly good.
January 17, 2022
such a shame the physical copy of the book is so pretty especially with the blue pages + white text/blue text and with the illustrations but the writing was just so …. meh not as enjoyable as i wanted it to be
May 17, 2020
Couldn't connect with these as much as I have with other poetry collections.
Read
January 5, 2025Not My Thing. I read through “ammu, after the smoke” (p. 31) and then decided to stop.
Great illustrations though!
Great illustrations though!
Read
February 3, 2021I found I was not able to put this book down when I found it in a bookshop earlier this week. Fariha Roisin’s words combined with gorgeous detail by Monica Ramos and design by Diane Shaw is eye-catching and demands to be heard.
Roisin writes about identity, about trauma, and about finding the balance of yourself between the elements of family and culture. I found her writing to be raw, but also soft enough to gently draw out the words into a series of beautiful poems. Watching Roisin try to find substance in her life was relatable and honest.
i am bigger than
this pain, a
vortex of every
narrative I’ve
screamed together
to have purpose
frequency (13).
Where Roisin writes of maternal trauma, sex and sexuality I felt the most at home. But she goes beyond this into critiques of society and racism. We read of her experiences of 9/11, her family’s experiences of wars undocumented on white media, of 1971. Roisin is careful and powerful.
remember us, like you’d remember white death. Remember us with no guilt. Just remember that we lost so much more than what you’ve afforded us to lose (112).
For the most part I am struck by the power in Roisin’s writing, each word and comma. In other reviews I have seen curiosity about essays and nonfiction and I would echo these sentiments, hoping to see further exploration of writing styles.
That said I enjoyed this collection.
Favourites included:
you feel me right, you feel me
je ne suis pas folle
loss becomes her
how to become a ghost ii
haruomi hosono
sporting a new look
it’s all love
we go on sisters, we go on
who’s right
this one’s for me.
Roisin writes about identity, about trauma, and about finding the balance of yourself between the elements of family and culture. I found her writing to be raw, but also soft enough to gently draw out the words into a series of beautiful poems. Watching Roisin try to find substance in her life was relatable and honest.
i am bigger than
this pain, a
vortex of every
narrative I’ve
screamed together
to have purpose
frequency (13).
Where Roisin writes of maternal trauma, sex and sexuality I felt the most at home. But she goes beyond this into critiques of society and racism. We read of her experiences of 9/11, her family’s experiences of wars undocumented on white media, of 1971. Roisin is careful and powerful.
remember us, like you’d remember white death. Remember us with no guilt. Just remember that we lost so much more than what you’ve afforded us to lose (112).
For the most part I am struck by the power in Roisin’s writing, each word and comma. In other reviews I have seen curiosity about essays and nonfiction and I would echo these sentiments, hoping to see further exploration of writing styles.
That said I enjoyed this collection.
Favourites included:
you feel me right, you feel me
je ne suis pas folle
loss becomes her
how to become a ghost ii
haruomi hosono
sporting a new look
it’s all love
we go on sisters, we go on
who’s right
this one’s for me.
August 10, 2020
There's some really beautiful poetry in here. 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.
Also thank you to the person who reviewed this and mentioned 'sexual mangoes' as a poetry cliche. This is how I will judge all poetry collections from now.
Also thank you to the person who reviewed this and mentioned 'sexual mangoes' as a poetry cliche. This is how I will judge all poetry collections from now.
October 27, 2021
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦
𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧
𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯
𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮
𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰
𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰
𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮?"
𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧
𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯
𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮
𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰
𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰
𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮?"
April 1, 2023
Certains des poèmes étaient hyper poignants et émouvants, on ressent sa rage, sa haine, sa fierté, son amour. Mais à côté certains poèmes étaient vraiment mauvais à mon goût ? J'ai l'impression que tout n'a pas été écrit par la même personne c'est bizarre.
3⭐️
3⭐️
May 26, 2023
alright. don't get me wrong. I can tell the poems are really personal and meaningful to the author and others with a similar experience. amazing for those people. the struggles of an immigrant really spoke to me.
what I didn't appreciate were the opinions relating to the middle east thrown in the mix. it seemed like the author only used the narratives that were conventionally aligned with hers. some went as far as being triggering for me as an Iranian. overall, I don't really think I expected much from this book.
what I didn't appreciate were the opinions relating to the middle east thrown in the mix. it seemed like the author only used the narratives that were conventionally aligned with hers. some went as far as being triggering for me as an Iranian. overall, I don't really think I expected much from this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews