Disintegrate/Dissociate
Arielle Twist
In her powerful debut collection of poetry, Arielle Twist unravels the complexities of human relationships after death and metamorphosis. In these spare yet powerful poems, she explores, with both rage and tenderness, the parameters of grief, trauma, displacement, and identity.
Weaving together a past made murky by uncertainty and a present which exists in multitudes, Arielle Twist poetically navigates through what it means to be an Indigenous trans woman, discovering the possibilities of a hopeful future and a transcendent, beautiful path to regaining softness. (From Arsenal Pulp Press)
Arielle Twist is a Halifax-based poet and sex educator, originally from George Gordon First Nation, Saskatchewan. CBC Books named Twist a writer to watch in 2019.
- 20 works of Canadian poetry to check out in spring 2019
- Why two-spirit, trans writer Arielle Twist is afraid of love
- Arielle Twist explores grief in her poetry and finds a home in the Indigenous arts community
- 12 books by Canadian LGBTQ writers to reading during Pride Month
- 19 Canadian writers to watch in 2019
- The best Canadian poetry of 2019
- 35 books to read for National Indigenous History Month
Why Arielle Twist wrote Disintegrate/Dissociate
"I always felt poetry was for white people. I remember in high school learning some poetry and it was the same kind of white people from years and years and years ago and I just felt like it wasn't accessible. When I saw the poetics that resonated with me — a place called No Homeland by Kai Cheng Thom, Passage by Gwen Benaway and North End Love Songs by Katherena Vermette — I was just like, 'Oh, I want to do that. It's beautiful.' There's something about sharing parts of yourself, but hiding so much in it that can't really be deciphered that is cool.
This whole collection is about grieving and the ways in which I am coping by disassociating or deconstructing or disintegrating or rebuilding.- Arielle Twist
"This whole collection is about grieving and the ways in which I am coping by disassociating or deconstructing or disintegrating or rebuilding."
Read more in her interview with CBC Books.
