Quote by Terese Marie Mailhot: “I wrote because I could not speak. The words chose me.”

This quote reveals a deep, almost involuntary need for expression through writing. It suggests that writing became an essential outlet for someone who struggled with verbal communication, implying the words themselves possessed an urgent drive to be articulated, taking over the speaker's agency.

From her raw, critically acclaimed memoir 'Heart Berries,' this line captures the intense personal urgency behind her writing. It reflects her journey of healing from trauma and finding her voice as an Indigenous woman, during a time of increased interest in diverse literary voices.

Canadian author and member of the Seabird Island Band whose memoir Heart Berries became a bestseller and was praised for its radical formal innovation and emotional honesty. She writes about Indigenous experience, trauma, and motherhood with compressed, visceral prose.