Sedley

by Chelsea Coupal

Chelsea Coupal is a poet and photographer who grew up in the village of Sedley, Saskatchewan. In these direct but nuanced poems, Couapl takes readers into the heart of her rural community, through adolescent rites of passage and relationships to the question that confronts many young Canadians: should I go or do I stay?

Genres: Poetry, Canada

94 pages, Paperback

Reviews

[cenobyte]

I had to read "Sedley" in parts. In pieces. Small amuse-bouche portions, because it was too much. Too present. Coupal's poems wrapped themselves around me, pulled me down into fields of canola, bushy lentils, tall red wheat. Dust from gravel roads puffed out from the pages. At first, I thought this must be nostalgia, but it's not. It's more than nostalgia; there's an immediacy to it, something that tapped directly into experience, bypassing memory.

Her language is hypnotic, mesmerising. More than once the poems brought tears to my eyes.

It is a book I will cherish, read in bite-size pieces again and again. Her book is home.

[Ana]

dos estrellas y media quizá?
Me parece un ejercicio interesante de la memoria o del registro de su pueblo natal, Sedley, pero siento que tenía mucho ripio narrativo -tendía a ser un poco superficial y no aprovechaba las imágenes poéticas que proponía brevemente. Me hace pensar, ¿por qué poesía? ¿Por qué no un ensayo más literario o poético? También es un imaginario súper canadiense -extranjerísimo para mí- pueblos pequeños, las "prairies", la granja, el cultivo. Eso sí rescato del libro, me queda clara la imagen que quiere proponer de Sedley y Saskatchewan. El poema que más me gustó fue The Pearl -me encantó la verdad.
No he leído mucha poesía contemporánea en inglés, pero tengo la impresión de que es media narrativa igual. Eso me llama la atención, comparándola con la poesía contemporánea en español, que incluso llega al límite opuesto de lo abstracto y no-lineal.
Me imagino que debe ser otra experiencia leer el libro conociendo y/o habiendo crecido en Sedley o Saskatchewan.
💌

[Ben Charles]

Sedley, written by Chelsea Coupal, is a delightful and insightful reflection of life in small-town Saskatchewan that had me smiling from the first page to the last. This collection of poems that Coupal has so masterfully penned is a wonderful commentary of the author’s life and experiences growing up in the town of Sedley, SK, a small village located forty kilometers South-East of Regina, SK.

When people think of life in small-town Saskatchewan they usually conjure images of tractors consuming the entire highway, dusty farmyards, abandoned movie-theaters, and the antics of the characters from Corner Gas. While some of these themes are present, Coupal also captures the magic, beauty, tragedy, and inexplicable weirdness that come with growing up in rural Saskatchewan. As I was born and raised in a small village in Saskatchewan myself, I could not help myself from feeling nostalgic and chuckling as I read such the poems as, “The Drive Home”, or “Party”. Coupal’s eerily accurate descriptions of remedies to teenage boredom reminded me of my own young misadventures getting in trouble at parties, driving aimlessly on the grid roads, talking smack about the kids from neighbouring towns, running from the RCMP, and of course smoking cigarettes and maybe having one too many Pilsners.

On the other hand, and unfortunately just as relatable, the poems “Ms. Williams” and “Jake” are poignant and riveting recollections of how unexpected tragedy can slice a village to the very core. Tragedy and unexpected deaths always bring people together in the tightly knitted communities that we have here at home- for better or for worse. “Ms. Williams” recounts a tragic accident that results in the untimely death of a teacher, and people rush to the scene to help in any way that they can, or simply gather to be there for the members of their communities. Coupal’s powerful yet subtle words on this matter left a great impression on me and with much inner thought. I could not help but think of the recent bus crash that tragically ended the lives of sixteen people within the Humboldt Broncos. Just like in Coupal’s poem the people of Saskatchewan, being the large rectangular small-town that it is, came together to help the families, strengthen the bond in our province, and celebrate life.

In summary, Sedley is an absolute treat for poetry fans and for small-town Saskatchewan folks who want to feel right at home again. Chelsea Coupal is an immensely talented poet with an extraordinary ability to show the reader that the mundane is, in fact, extraordinary. Coupal’s breath-taking descriptions of Saskatchewan nature, commentary on the stress of the economic uncertainty of agriculture, and the trials and tribulations of growing up all fit together to create a brilliant slice Canadiana. It has left a lasting impression on me and I know that I will find myself picking it up again and again.

[Brandon Forsyth]

Beautifully wrought - melancholy, brimming with desire and optimism and a nostalgic sadness. Specific and personal and universal - everything great art should be.

[David Malcolm]

Chelsea Coupal's book Sedley took me back to my own youth on a Saskatchewan farm. Have you ever felt the hot prairie breeze blowing on your neck, with the sweat dripping down? Have you driven the farm roads in loose gravel and almost lost it? Have you smelled the black loam? Have you smelled the opposite kind of alkali soil? Have you walked on the gravel, heard the crunch, and felt it through the soles of your feet? Have you remembered the first time you fell in love? I experienced all this and more as I read Chelsea's collection of poems. Our towns in Saskatchewan were only about 100 miles (160) apart by road. A wonderful read. I will read the book again soon.

[Michelle Gaudet]

This was a wonderful debut collection from a Canadian poet. It gave me so much nostalgia for past roadtrips and a glimpse of the prairie girl I think I should have been... It's always so nice to experience more of the Canadian landscape through poetry. I need mooore things like this.

[Devon Thompson]

Honestly, I don’t know much about poetry but this blew me away!
She was able to describe every small town teenagers life! Awesome work Chelsea!!!

[M.A.]

Lovely little poetry book of Saskatchewan imagery.

[Child960801]

I grew up near Sedley. Reading these poems brought back to me that sense of time and place. Beautiful words. I enjoyed savouring them over several days.

[Amy]

I picked this book up second hand at the YQR Big Book Sale. I’m glad that it made it’s way into my life.

[Samantha]

I enjoyed this collection, especially the poems that resonated with me and reminded me of growing up in a small Saskatchewan farming community.

[M.F. Sutherland]

Visceral and sparkling, with renewed appreciation for the sestina. Bravo.

[Julia]

Reading this felt like reading my own teen years as someone who also grew up in small town Saskatchewan.