EPISODE 768 - Maria Giesbrecht - A Little Feral, a collection of poems written several years after leaving a conservative Mennonite family

In this episode, author guest Maria Giesbrecht opens up about the deeply personal journey behind her poetry collection and the complicated path that led her toward becoming a writer. She reflects on the surreal experience of stepping into a live radio interview with little time to prepare, sharing the vulnerability that comes with putting creative work into the world and wondering how it will be received. What emerges throughout the conversation is an honest look at fear, courage, and the emotional weight of telling the truth through art.

Maria traces her love of writing back to high school, where an encouraging creative writing teacher helped her realize that writing could exist beyond assignments and grades. Although she later pursued accounting, poetry stayed beside her through difficult seasons of life and eventually became the foundation for publication. She speaks candidly about rejection in the literary world, explaining that persistence matters more than perfection and that rejection is often proof that a writer is actively pursuing their calling.

The conversation also explores Maria’s upbringing in a Mennonite community after immigrating from Mexico to Canada as a child. She shares the tension of growing up between cultures, trying to fit in while carrying traditions and experiences that felt different from those around her. Reading became a refuge during those years, and books helped her discover the power stories have to comfort, connect, and heal.

Maria speaks thoughtfully about faith, rebellion, identity, and the complicated process of finding her own voice outside the structures she grew up in. Rather than rejecting her past entirely, she reflects on learning to hold both beauty and pain together. That same philosophy shapes her writing, where she aims to portray family, spirituality, and relationships with honesty and generosity instead of reducing people to heroes or villains.

Throughout the episode, Maria encourages listeners to trust their inner desires and give themselves permission to pursue a more honest version of life. She reminds aspiring writers and creatives that consistency matters, community matters, and that finding people who truly understand your journey can make all the difference.

Key takeaway: The path toward creativity, identity, and personal freedom is rarely straightforward, but growth begins when we stop silencing ourselves and start trusting the deeper truths we carry within.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/elmira-poet-s-new-book-inspired-by-her-journey-leaving-mennonite-community-9.7175804

https://mariagiesbrecht.com/

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.
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