Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Tara sits down with Iranian-Canadian author Hollay Ghadery to discuss her first novel, The Unravelling of Ou, published by Palimpsest Press in February 2026. Later in the interview, Hollay talks about poetry and how best to read it for those who may be new to it.
palimpsestpress.ca/books/the-unravelling-of-ou-hollay-ghadery :
"Moving on is hard. Even harder when it’s from a make-believe friend—someone, or in this instance, some thing—who’s been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo is faced with a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter, and maybe all of the people she loves. On an emotional drive home from the hospital, Ecology Paul shares the story of how Minoo got to this point, recalling Minoo’s early teenage pregnancy in Iran, her exile to Canada, her questions about her sexuality, and how a ragtag sock puppet came to her when she desperately needed to be seen. Full of imagination, whimsy and heart, The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo’s struggles to justify the puppet’s existence and untangle herself from her dependence on it, and reconnect with the people she loves."
Books and authors discussed/recommended:
-- Fuse: Memoir; Rebellion Box; Widow Fantasies; The Blades of Grass are Dreaming (chapbook); The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery
-- The Dowager Empress: Poems by Adele Wiseman by Elizabeth Greene (editor)
-- Deviant by Patrick Grace
-- Unravel: Poems by Tolu Oloruntaba
-- Lockers Are for Bearcats Only by Mallory Tater
-- The Last Unicorn; Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
-- author Aisha Sasha John
-- Good Bones by Maggie Smith
-- author Charlie Petch
-- Syncopation: A Novel in Verse by Whitney French
-- Stan on Guard; Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millenia by K.R. Wilson
-- Elegy for Opportunity by Natalie Lim
-- author Ali Hazelwood
-- Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging by Rachel Phan
-- Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive by Alison Gadsby
-- Weird Babies by Jaclyn Desforges
-- The Dialogues: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow by Armand Garnet Ruffo
instagram.com/hollayghadery
instagram.com/river_street_writes
riverstreetwriting.com
Tara sits down with Iranian-Canadian author Hollay Ghadery to discuss her first novel, The Unravelling of Ou, published by Palimpsest Press in February 2026. Later in the interview, Hollay talks about poetry and how best to read it for those who may be new to it.
palimpsestpress.ca/books/the-unravelling-of-ou-hollay-ghadery :
"Moving on is hard. Even harder when it’s from a make-believe friend—someone, or in this instance, some thing—who’s been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo is faced with a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter, and maybe all of the people she loves. On an emotional drive home from the hospital, Ecology Paul shares the story of how Minoo got to this point, recalling Minoo’s early teenage pregnancy in Iran, her exile to Canada, her questions about her sexuality, and how a ragtag sock puppet came to her when she desperately needed to be seen. Full of imagination, whimsy and heart, The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo’s struggles to justify the puppet’s existence and untangle herself from her dependence on it, and reconnect with the people she loves."
Books and authors discussed/recommended:
-- Fuse: Memoir; Rebellion Box; Widow Fantasies; The Blades of Grass are Dreaming (chapbook); The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery
-- The Dowager Empress: Poems by Adele Wiseman by Elizabeth Greene (editor)
-- Deviant by Patrick Grace
-- Unravel: Poems by Tolu Oloruntaba
-- Lockers Are for Bearcats Only by Mallory Tater
-- The Last Unicorn; Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
-- author Aisha Sasha John
-- Good Bones by Maggie Smith
-- author Charlie Petch
-- Syncopation: A Novel in Verse by Whitney French
-- Stan on Guard; Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millenia by K.R. Wilson
-- Elegy for Opportunity by Natalie Lim
-- author Ali Hazelwood
-- Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging by Rachel Phan
-- Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive by Alison Gadsby
-- Weird Babies by Jaclyn Desforges
-- The Dialogues: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow by Armand Garnet Ruffo
instagram.com/hollayghadery
instagram.com/river_street_writes
riverstreetwriting.com
