The Poet Speaks by Ruby Waithe

Published October 5, 2026

Plantain is honoured to showcase the curated portfolio of Ruby Waithe, a poet whose full body of work came to light only after her passing, when family members uncovered a box filled with her writings.

The collection reveals Ruby as a person of grace and profound literary passion, and delves into a spirit in harmony with nature and the depths of human emotion.

Initially tasked with the curation of her 76 poems, we then embarked on designing a tribute that reflects Ruby’s legacy and the values she held dear.

At the heart of the project was the following question: what holds memory when a person is gone? A colour, a flower, a sound, a gesture?

Guided by this idea, we created detailed photographic scans of one of Ruby’s favourite flowers. The pink floral elements woven throughout the book were created from blooms picked by her great-grandson, granddaughter, and son-in-law. We also preserved selections of Ruby’s handwritten and typewritten pages, allowing traces of her creative process and presence to remain within the work itself.

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