What happens when poetry meets climate crisis?
In this episode, I’m joined by award-winning poet Farah Ghafoor to discuss her poetry collection, Shadow Price.
Taking its title from an economics term—the estimated value of things without a clear market price—Shadow Price explores themes of climate change, capitalism, colonialism, and the multigenerational impact of biodiversity loss. Farah shares how her poems blend lyricism and essayistic form to confront uncomfortable truths about how we live, what we value, and the stories we pass down.
Whether you’re a poetry lover, an advocate for the environment, or simply curious about the intersection of art and activism, this episode offers a moving reflection on what it means to live—and write—responsibly.
Shadow Price is out now from House of Anansi, and you can order a copy here.
Got any thoughts on this episode or want to suggest authors you’d like to see on the show? Send me a note here.
Show highlights
- Farah’s journey from accountant to award-winning poet
- The violence of extraction in “The Dream-Eaters”
- The power of language in shaping meaning—and erasing it
- Indigenous knowledge and the loss of generational wisdom
- Multigenerational impact of environmental choices
- Merging poetry with essay form
- On self-doubt and finding the courage to write
- How readers can approach this collection
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About Farah Ghafoor
Farah Ghafoor is an award-winning poet living on the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. Her work was awarded the E.J. Pratt Medal and Prize in Poetry, longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize, is taught in university courses, and published in The Walrus, the Fiddlehead, Room, and elsewhere. Raised in New Brunswick and southern Ontario, Ghafoor now works in Tkaronto (Toronto) as an accountant.
About Shadow Price
Borrowing its title from a finance term—“the estimated price of a good or service for which no market price exists”—Shadow Price is a stunning debut that examines the idea of value in a world that burns under our capitalist lens.
What gives life value? How do we serve existing societal structures that determine its cost? Employing both surreal and documentary imagery, Farah Ghafoor’s arresting collection articulates how narrative is used to revise the past and manipulate the future, ultimately forming our present-day climate crisis. Interrogating personal complicity, generational implications, and the shock of our collective disregard for a world that sustains every living thing, Shadow Price captures the complexities of living and writing as a young poet born in the year that “climate change denial” first appeared in print. Mourning the loss of Earth’s biodiversity, from insects to mammoths to trees, these introspective poems invite us to consider the risks and rewards of loving what may vanish in our lifetime.
Shadow Price charges readers to contemplate their power and purpose in the world today, recognizing that there is hope even in the belly of the beast.
Guest’s links
Connect with Farah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowpricepoems
Connect with Farah on X: https://x.com/farah_ghafoor
Host’s links
Book a one-on-one with Lola: https://wordcaps.com/coaching/
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