Hollay Ghadery: Season 1 Episode 2

In this second episode, Kyeren Regehr welcomes Iranian-Canadian poet and multi-genre writer Hollay Ghadery, inaugural Poet Laureate of Scugog Township, who speaks with deep honesty and intelligence about poetry as a practice of receptivity, form as a map, and writing as a means of reclaiming enchantment. Featuring three poems, including Braids. Recorded in Victoria, BC, on the Lekwungen homelands at Haus of Owl.

This episode is generously sponsored by Munro’s Books. A literary landmark in downtown Victoria, Munro’s has been a sanctuary for readers and writers alike for over sixty years. Munro’s Books ships internationally: books by Hollay Ghadery can be ordered from munrobooks.com.

Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph.

Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her poetry collection, Rebellion Box, was published by Radiant Press in 2023, and her short fiction collection, Widow Fantasies, came out with Gordon Hill Press in 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is forthcoming with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children’s book, Being with the Birds, will be released by Guernica Editions in 2027.

Hollay is a host on The New Books Network and a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets, and co-chair of the League’s BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at hollayghadery.com.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [e-mail].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—supporting artists to create the best work of their careers. Original music by Chris Regehr. To learn more or reach out, visit www.thepoetlaureatepodcast.com or find us on Instagram @poetlaureatepodcast & [e-mail].

We acknowledge with gratitude that this work was created on the unceded homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.