Arielle Twist made a powerful debut with the poetry collection Disintegrate/Dissociate in 2019. The book depicts life for an Indigenous trans woman, one dreaming for a hopeful future and a clear path for self-discovery. Twist has previously contributed to publications like CBC Arts, Them, the Fiddlehead, PRISM International and Canadian Art. Twist is a Nehiyaw, two-Spirit, trans woman originally from George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan. She now lives in Halifax.

CBC Books named Twist a writer to watch in 2019.

"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."