Hollay Ghadery: 'My writing is irrevocably feminist, rooted in the personal, domestic sphere'

On Creative Writing (OCR) founders Emma and Sheelagh are really happy to introduce this new Q&A feature: Writers Reveal. Authors and writers from around the world will select five questions from our list of ten, and their answers will reveal lots about their lives as writers and their writing.

Author Hollay Ghadery

Author Hollay Ghadery

Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land, and is our first writer to reveal. In coming weeks, Sheelagh and Hollay will talk on the upcoming OCR podcast about Hollay's writing and books. We're so grateful to Hollay for sharing her answers with readers!

Hollay has her 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 collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024.

Hollay's debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children’s book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is the host of the 105.5 FM Bookclub, as well as 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 a co-chair of the League’s BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com.

A struggle to feel a sense of belonging

On Creative Writing: What life experiences have shaped your writing style?

Hollay Ghadery: I think being a lonely, sad little kid with not a ton of friends shaped a lot of my writing, simply because it drove me to read a lot more than I might have otherwise. Being biracial and bicultural, and the daughter of an Iranian immigrant also shaped me because it has created a love of fluidity, as well as a feeling of desolation: it’s been a struggle to feel like I ever truly belong anywhere.

My mother loved books and my father praised poetry (poets and poetry are highly regarded in Iranian, at least compared to most of the Western world), so I was encouraged to read and read widely.

On Creative Writing: Has your writing evolved over the years? If so, how? Through writing experience? Reading a lot? Writing courses or communities? A combination, or something else?

Hollay Gadhery: My writing has definitely evolved. I cringe looking at some of my old notebooks. And they aren’t that old. Being accepted for my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph helped me refine my practice and think about writing in new ways. It also introduced me to other amazing writers who are still part of my community to this day.

Reading voraciously has also improved my writing and I can’t undersell the importance of reading poetry, specifically. Poetry makes language electric, elevating a simple observation from good to unforgettable. I always have poetry on the go, and I read and reread it and read it aloud.

Writing irrevocably feminist, rooted in the personal, domestic sphere

On Creative Writing: Can you trace any common themes across your writing?

Holley Gadhery: My writing is irrevocably feminist, rooted in the personal, domestic sphere. I used to think I had to write about more “important” and “worldly” topics, but as I’ve gotten older, I have started to realize nothing is bigger or more important than the domestic: than what happens in our homes and ribbons outward, making us who we are, and our world what it is.

On Creative Writing: Which authors and/or types of books do you like to read?

Holley Gadhery: I read everything and I like to read everything. Well, almost everything. I recently read some dino smut (it’s exactly what it sounds like: deeply

sexual writing about human-dinosaur relationships) and that may have been too far.

Hollay on dino smut: "I am glad I read it because I can now say I did, but I don’t think it made me a better writer or person for doing it. The only thing I got from reading it was imaginary brownie points for having an open mind, awarded to myself, from myself."

Dino smut aside, I love to read poetry, memoir, biography, sci-fi, speculative fiction, romance, and even a little horror (but not too much because I am excitable as it is and I don’t need more anxiety in my life). I am open to just about anything!

On Creative Writing: Do you use social media to engage readers, writers, or publishers and, if so, which platforms?

Hollay Gadhery: Yes, I am on most social media platforms and have found it invaluable for making connections. I live rurally, and it can be difficult to make it into the city (Toronto, in my case) for events, so social media lets me hear about books and creates opportunities that I wouldn’t otherwise receive.

Social media has also given me the opportunity to nurture a platform for my work and a porous community to uplift and celebrate other books and art I enjoy. I find it important and while I know there are certainly drawbacks to social media, I use it on my terms and authentically, so I have (so far) managed to enjoy most of the time I spend there.