Totem Poles and Railroads

by Janet Rogers

Totem Poles and Railroads succinctly defines the 500-year-old relationship between Indigenous nations and the corporation of Canada. In this, her fifth poetry collection, Janet Rogers expands on that definition with a playful, culturally powerful and, at times, experimental voice. She pays honour to her poetic characters—real and imagined, historical and present day—from Sacajawea to Nina Simone. Placing poetry at the centre of our current post-residential school/present-day reconciliation reality, Rogers’ poems are expansive and intimate, challenging, thought-provoking and always personal.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Canada, Fiction

168 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2016

About the author

Librarian's Note: There are multiple authors on Goodreads named Janet Rogers.

Reviews

[Barbara McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - not sure I love it as much as Peace in Duress but it is still a pretty amazing collection. I would love to hear them spoken, an audiobook would be amazing. That said the physical copy is beautiful. Sadly, some of the titles are pinched off in the spine so the formatting isn't perfect.

[df parizeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strength of these poems is their relentless urgency. These poems are beating down the door with unflinching resolve. There is no mistaking what Rogers wants and needs to call attention to and that can make these poems uncomfortable, but that is inherently their point.

My only qualm is the typesetting. I do appreciate that there is an effort to subvert typical poetic structure and word hierarchy, but for several poems (particularly ones where words are truncated by the gutter) it doesn't add anything to the piece.

[Sami Al-Khalili · Rating 5 out of 5]

She shines a beautiful melody of performance art and poetry with intonations of Indigenous nations, her provocative nation and poignant opinion against corporate Canada. We've got live modern poetry to rock the socks off.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of poetry that balances serious topics of Indigenous Peoples' relationships they have with the place now known as Canada and colonization over time with a sometimes playful quality.

My favourites in this explored the perspectives of Sacajawea and Pocahontas. I also liked the poems that dove into Indigenous rights and Canada's Calls to Action. I think there is something special about approaching official lists, reports, rules, and documents from a poetic view.

However, I don't think some of the typeface choices were necessary to the impact of the poems. Not every poem worked for me but this was very solid overall! If you like poetry and want to read more diverse poetry, I would recommend this.

Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer from the Six Nations territory.

[shayne avec i grec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about this book is a win - from its gorgeous design to the smell of the paper to the incendiary poetry. It is not always a comfortable read, and that makes it all the more important. Janet Rogers isn't pulling any punches and doesn't care what you think. And I for one quite like that.

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the May 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...