A LITTLE FERAL
"Maria Giesbrecht writes remarkable poems. Wildly innovative and emotionally resonant, she puts her own slant on the inner lives of women, taking her reader to delightfully unexpected places. Prepare to be dazzled." -Alison Pick, Man Booker Prize nominated author of Far to Go
In A Little Feral, Maria Giesbrecht delivers a debut collection that navigates faith, family, and personal resurrection through a voice at once wild, intimate, and quietly rebellious. Written in the aftermath of leaving a conservative Mennonite upbringing, these poems chart a parallel journey of breaking away— from father, from God, from the confines of obedience. Giesbrecht’ s language is lyrical and unflinching, a cadence that moves between tenderness and defiance.
That's me!
Maria Giesbrecht is a Canadian writer whose work explores her Mexican and Mennonite roots. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Best Canadian Poetry, Narrative Magazine, Electric Literature, The Literary Review of Canada, Only Poems, Prairie Fire, The New Quarterly, Grain, and elsewhere.
She is a winner of the Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest, The Jack McCarthy Book Prize, the Lesley Strutt Poetry Prize, and a finalist for the 2025 Narrative Poetry Prize. Maria won Silver in Poetry at the National Magazine Awards in 2026.
Born in Durango, Mexico, Maria now lives in Elmira, Ontario with her husband and their tuxedo cat, Mozzie.
Maria's debut poetry collection, A LITTLE FERAL (Write Bloody Publishing, 2026), is now available to order!
Maria hosts the popular and internationally recognized writing community, Gather, for other poets searching for creative community.
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All photos by David Casco Photography