Pink Moon is part anthem of decolonization, part oracle of the times. Earthy, magical, and steeped in ancestral connection, Roshan James fuses her lived experience as a Tibetan-Indian born in Scarborough, Ontario, with a tangible connection to nature, humanity, and realms of consciousness. Growing up in the South Asian diaspora, but feeling disconnected from her cultural roots, James makes peace with the tension between her self-identities through poetry.

With lyrical ease and simplicity, James resonates off the page, holding the reader in a space, almost trance-like, of quiet confidence. Infused with street-style and deep contemplation, ancient tones and child-like questioning, this collection is a journey through abstract expression. Pink Moon sits at an intersection of timely themes: anti-oppression, melanated lived experience, climate action, social justice, and personal spirituality. The collection will be of interest for discussion in academia, literary circles, and among people who are passionate about art, mindfulness, meditation, holistic health, and nature.

Roshan James' profile page

Roshan James (she/her) is a poet and artist living as a settler in Newton, Ontario. Her work focuses on consciousness, anti-oppression, non-attachment, and healing. Roshan holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from York University, summa cum laude. You’ll find her on Instagram at @roshan_james.

“Diasporic displacement dictates its deliverance in this feminist rallying cry against heteropatriarchy and all its binary forms! With every word, in spaces between words, brimming with resilience and retrospection, every poem in this collection asks its reader to read these poems queerly; in doing so, each promises self-liberation. Imagine Yellowjackets written from the point of view of a racialized diasporic feminist leader, and you get Pink Moon.” — Aashay Dalvi, founder of Rad Riot Books

“Time pulses and slows in Pink Moon. ‘[H]ow can we be so bold as to define what makes civility?’ is a question Roshan James poses at the outset and proceeds to answer and interrogate. From the way ‘[t]here is so much more of you / Of us / Where the wild things grow’ to how ‘[i]t would take a lifetime to know her / To learn at the feet of her joy,’ the sheer expanse of time is laid bare. ‘There is medicine in memories / Buried under the roots of the family tree,’ and there is medicine in James’s prayer-like poetry that invokes blessings for a network of kin that spans the living and non-living.” — Manahil Bandukwala, author of Monument

“For fans of poetry, magic, spells and nature this 80-page poem anthology is like a breath of autumn air.” — The Community Edition