Radiant Wound - Softcover

Waterfall, Cara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1963115775 ISBN 13: 9781963115772

Publisher: Unsolicited Press, 2025

Synopsis

Radiant Wound is both an anthem and a lament, a poetic exploration of life between cultures, languages, and the landscapes of Côte d'Ivoire. In this debut collection, Cara Waterfall captures the vibrant textures and deep dissonances of life abroad after the Second Ivorian Civil War, navigating the complex experience of being a geographical, cultural, and linguistic outsider. Her verses take readers through striking scenes: from the crocodile-guarded presidential palace in Yamoussoukro and the colonial past of Grand-Bassam to the intimate spaces of a woodcarver's studio and the Gbangbo River, where the laundrymen wash clothes.

Supported by a National Geographic Glimpse Correspondents Program grant in 2012, Waterfall's poems draw from the stories and encounters she gathered for her features, "Rebelles: Ivoirian women fight for change" and "Art as Reconciliation." Her collection breathes life into voices often unheard, from a young girl making charcoal in San Pedro to HIV-positive women and vulnerable children in Yopougon, and even the neglected animals of the Abidjan Zoo. Radiant Wound reflects on tradition, resilience, and survival, bearing witness to the long, imperfect journey toward healing.

About this title

About the Author

Cara Waterfall is an Ottawa-born, Côte d'Ivoire-based poet, storyteller and mentor who teaches other writers how to sustain thriving, creative practices and reclaim their artistic identities. Her work frequently navigates the complexities of identity, place and intergenerational memory. She has post-graduate diplomas in Poetry & Lyric Discourse from SFU's The Writer's Studio, where she was mentored by Vancouver Poet Laureate, Fiona Tinwei Lam, and from the London School of Journalism. Her poems have appeared widely, including Best Canadian Poetry, SWWIM and The Night Heron Barks. She won PULPLiterature's 2023 Magpie Award for Poetry, Room's 2018 Short Forms and 2020 Poetry Contests. She is a three-time finalist for Radar Poetry's The Coniston Prize and was shortlisted for the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize. Her debut poetry collection, Radiant Wound, is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in May 2025, and explores her life in Abidjan after the second civil war. She recently finished her second poetry manuscript, The Lost Stations, and is working on a third about Nouchi, a hybrid language that unites crucial threads of Côte d'Ivoire's identity. Subscribe to Cara's Substack, Archipel, an ongoing dialogue between poets and creatives of all kinds, celebrating the ways we connect through mentorship, community and transitions, launching summer 2024. www.carawaterfall.com

Edition details

• Publisher: Unsolicited Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1963115775
• ISBN 13: 9781963115772
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 82