Turning Towards the Dark: Hala Alyan Explores the Psychology of Fear

Emergence Magazine is a quarterly online publication exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging stories. Each issue explores a theme through innovative digital media, as well as the written and spoken word. The Emergence Magazine podcast features exclusive interviews, narrated essays, stories, and more.

Hala Alyan is a clinical psychologist, poet, and author. In this essay, she reluctantly steps into the realm of fear in order to reckon with a precarious world. In the context of the pandemic and personal loss and trauma, she explores the psychology of being afraid, the presence of demons, and practices of courage and surrender.

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Hala Alyan is the author of the novels The Arsonists’ City and Salt Houses—winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Arab American Book Award and a finalist for the Chautauqua Prize. She has published four collections of poetry, most recently The Twenty-Ninth Year. Her work has been published by The New Yorker, the Academy of American Poets, Lit Hub, The New York Times Book Review, and Guernica. She lives in Brooklyn, where she works as a clinical psychologist.

Leonardo Santamaria is a first-generation Filipino-American freelance illustrator. He is the recipient of a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators (New York) and a Silver Medal from Spectrum Fantastic Art. He has contributed to motion projects for Buck animation studio. His clients include National Geographic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and more. He currently lives and works in South Pasadena, California.