Welcome!

I’m so glad you’re here. My name is Raziela Orlinat (she/her), and I’m a rising poet and prose writer working across genres and mediums. My work recenters the margins and intersections of identity, motherhood, survival, and transformation by interrogating the architecture of systems, exploring the dynamics of the personal-political, and discovering connections within the human condition. I am a queer and disabled single mother, feminist killjoy, and survivor of domestic violence who is passionate about challenging borders, celebrating resilience, seeking out connections, honoring identity, and amplifying honesty.

I engage with the human condition and the world through the prism of my intersectional identities, and this drives me to center tikkun olam, meaning “repair of the world” in Hebrew, in all that I do. It’s my call to action, and I contribute to that work through my writing and community building. On this website, you’ll find more information about me and my writing, as well as the Out of the Margins community for supporting and uplifting historically marginalized writers. You’ll also find a resource hub accessible to all writers and community builders who visit the site, and my blog, where I share things like recent accomplishments, ideas & inspirations, living a writing life, doing the work of incorporating ABAR practices and principles into my writing, and industry insights. Please stay awhile, explore, consider, connect, and grow with me. Thank you for being here and walking alongside me as we journey together for one moment or many.

You can learn more about me here and check out a sample of my published works here. Have a question, idea, invitation to collaborate, or feedback? Email me here—I read every one. Want to sign up for my monthly newsletters? You can do that here.

A Personal Reflection on Place*

I live as a guest on the traditional and ancestral lands of the Agawam and Nipmuc Peoples. My relationship to this place is one of occupation and sustenance—it is the ground that holds my home and the waters that nourish my family. My commitment is to move beyond passive presence into active relationship. I am weaving this commitment into my life as a writer and, more importantly, as a parent. It has been my honor to raise my two-spirit child here, and to explore the forests, rivers, and coast of Massachusetts with them. Together, we are learning to love, honor, respect, and feel whole in these spaces—connected to the people, plants, and animals that have always called this place home. My ongoing action is this stewardship through parenting: to foster a deep, reciprocal bond with the land, to listen to its stories, and to raise a generation that carries forward care, not just occupancy. I acknowledge with gratitude the Agawam and Nipmuc Peoples, past and present, who have maintained relationship with these lands and waters since time immemorial, and I strive to align my family’s presence with care for their enduring homelands.

*Created with the help of native-land.ca. I encourage you to visit their website and consider engaging with their reflection and connection tool to find or deepen your own understanding of your relationship with place.