Sep 24, 2026 · 42 min · 13 segments
In this NBN interview, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Adriana Oniță about her poetry collection, Descântec For My Split Tongue (Palimpsest Press, 2026). This is Adriana Oniță’s first book of poetry…
Hollay GhaderyHost
Adriana OnițăGuest
I also do want to talk about the act of writing poetry in general as an act of nurturing the self, which is something I think we could get better at doing in a very analog way of nurturing the self.
And I think about the world that we live in where everybody is... you know divided but whenever i hear somebody has decided to take time in their life and write a poem like imagine if all world leaders had to take a week off and do a poetry retreat um Kind of a weird thought,
but I think that the world might be a better place
And again, I know that this is not necessarily a book that is strictly about mothering in motherhood.
And I know that I'm reading it It's a mirror for me as a mother who is struggling with one of her mother tongues.
But I was wondering if you could speak to the idea of poetry as a radical act of mothering the self and the world around you.
And so, you know, community, like the idea of community is so central to writing.
And especially in like the writing life, I felt like You know, I needed that community, that writing group.
And so I started The Polyglot, which has morphed from a literary magazine to like a community pub, really, that where I can be and many people can be in conversation with other writers and translators and writers.
And yeah, so that's how I see your question relating to my practice is that like supporting other writers, and I know you do this too, like constantly.
Like some people suggest that it somehow takes away from my own time to write.
But no, like editing, translating others, publishing others, like it feeds my own practice.
It just keeps me so open and like attentive and... and really like attuned to what's happening like the innovation poetry and other genres not just in canada but across the world um but yeah it's it's required obviously a lot of nurturing and that that mothering of a space that began like as this tiny little seed of an idea that pomegranate seed and and now it's like this this big thing where we've ran like even writers retreats uh internationally and um other stuff like that so Yeah, I do think community is everything, though.
I also do want to talk about the act of writing poetry in general as an act of nurturing the self, which is something I think we could get better at doing in a very analog way of nurturing the self.
And I think about the world that we live in where everybody is... you know divided but whenever i hear somebody has decided to take time in their life and write a poem like imagine if all world leaders had to take a week off and do a poetry retreat um Kind of a weird thought,
but I think that the world might be a better place
And again, I know that this is not necessarily a book that is strictly about mothering in motherhood.
And I know that I'm reading it It's a mirror for me as a mother who is struggling with one of her mother tongues.
But I was wondering if you could speak to the idea of poetry as a radical act of mothering the self and the world around you.
And so, you know, community, like the idea of community is so central to writing.
And especially in like the writing life, I felt like You know, I needed that community, that writing group.
And so I started The Polyglot, which has morphed from a literary magazine to like a community pub, really, that where I can be and many people can be in conversation with other writers and translators and writers.
And yeah, so that's how I see your question relating to my practice is that like supporting other writers, and I know you do this too, like constantly.
Like some people suggest that it somehow takes away from my own time to write.
But no, like editing, translating others, publishing others, like it feeds my own practice.
It just keeps me so open and like attentive and... and really like attuned to what's happening like the innovation poetry and other genres not just in canada but across the world um but yeah it's it's required obviously a lot of nurturing and that that mothering of a space that began like as this tiny little seed of an idea that pomegranate seed and and now it's like this this big thing where we've ran like even writers retreats uh internationally and um other stuff like that so Yeah, I do think community is everything, though.
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