When Jasmine Farrell released Rising from the Roots on June 24, 2025, she thought she was simply publishing another poetry collection, her sixth book, still written straight from the heart. A year later, she realizes it was something much deeper.
Rising from the Roots became her poetic memoir. A collection capturing a decade of questioning, deconstructing long-held beliefs, embracing her identity, grieving what needed to be left behind, and learning to love herself without apology or explanation. It is a record of becoming. As she wrote in the book’s Reader’s Note, authenticity became the thread connecting every hard decision, every lesson, and every poem.
Publishing it made her feel lighter.
There is a unique kind of freedom that comes from releasing words carried for years. Once those stories are no longer trapped inside, they begin to belong to readers who find pieces of themselves within them. To her that has been one of the greatest gifts of the past year. Writing can feel solitary, but sharing this book reminded Farrell that she is far from alone. Readers have reached out about deconstructing beliefs, discovering their sexual identity later than society says they “should,” and learning to stand ten toes down on boundaries that protect their peace.
For so long, she believed those experiences isolated her. Instead, this book became proof that honesty creates community.
One of the most meaningful surprises has been seeing Rising from the Roots continue to find new readers, including a college that recently added copies to its collection. Those moments remind her that poetry doesn’t stop living after publication day. It continues every time someone opens its pages and finds words for something they’ve struggled to put into words themselves.
The past year also taught Farrell that joy and grief are not opposites. During the book’s official release, she and her spouse lost their beloved cat, while she was introducing one of her most vulnerable projects to the world. A virtual book tour, interviews, announcements, and celebrations existed alongside heartbreak. Living through both at once was tough.
Perhaps that’s what Rising from the Roots has always been about. The collection begins in the soil, in the places that shaped her. It rises toward freedom, acceptance, joy, and flight while wrestling with religious deconstruction, people-pleasing, family dynamics, heartbreak, healing, boundaries, and embracing her identity as a queer woman on her own timeline. The poems don’t promise healing is easy. They simply remind readers that growth is possible.
Looking back now, Farrell doesn’t see this book as the end of a chapter.
She sees proof that healing isn’t linear, authenticity is worth the cost, and roots don’t exist to keep us buried. They give us the strength to rise.
She hopes readers carry this with them:
- You don’t have to become someone else to be worthy of love.
- Don’t you dare rush your timeline. Leave imposter syndrome in the dictionary where it belongs.
- You don’t have to keep carrying stories that were never yours to hold.
- Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is return to our roots, honor what shaped us, and then give ourselves permission to grow beyond them.
One year later, Jasmine Farrell is still growing.
And for the first time in a long time, that growth feels lighter.
You can connect with Jasmine Farrell through website www.jasminefarrell.com/blog, TikTok @jasminefarrellpoetry and YouTube @JasmineFarrell