None of This Belongs to Me

by Ellie Sawatzky

In this vibrant debut, Ellie Sawatzky rustles the underbrush of identity, seeking clarity on the nature of ownership and belonging. Haunted and inspired by old boyfriends, girls named Emily, ancestral ghosts, polar bears and mythic horses, None of This Belongs to Me plots a young woman’s coming of age in a time of environmental and socio-economic peril. From rural Ontario to Kitsilano to Burning Man, Sawatzky inquires into childhood learning, girlhood learning, what is inherited, what is acquired, what begins to take form in the iridescent space between innocence and experience (“The body’s crystal arithmetic”). Superimposing dreamscapes on realities, history on pop culture and everyday sorrows, this collection is a hymn for the broken-hearted, a plea for connection in the information age, and a call to question the ways in which we both nurture and harm one another and our environment.

None of This Belongs to Me is pertinent now more than ever, as Sawatzky’s generation comes of age in a tumultuous time, forced to consider all of that which does not—and may never—belong to them. These poems invite readers to explore our inner and outer worlds, to question the ways we inhabit them, to infuse our modern lives with our potent histories.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2021

About the author

Ellie Sawatzky is a an award-winning Canadian writer and poet. She was a finalist for the 2019 Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, and the recipient of CV2's 2018 Foster Poetry Prize. Her work has been published widely in literary journals and anthologies such as The Fiddlehead, PRISM international, Best Canadian Poetry, The Matador Review, Prairie Fire, The Puritan, and Room. Raised in the woods of Kenora, Ontario, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and currently finds home in Vancouver. Her début poetry collection, None of This Belongs to Me, was published in Octoberl 2021 (Nightwood Editions). Find her on Instagram @elliesawatzky.

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

NONE OF THIS BELONGS TO ME by Ellie Sawatzky is a great debut! I attended the book launch last year which was so fun and I’m so glad I could hear more of Ellie’s poetry at the A Mennonite to Remember event and more recently at Word Vancouver & Read Local BC Poetry in Transit event. I loved the touches of humour in this book while also exploring relationships, growing up and finding space in this world. My fave poems are The Missed Connections Ad Writes Itself, New Moon, Gemini Season and Ways to Write a Poem.

Thank you to Nightwood Editions for my gifted review copy!

[Erin Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the author is from my small hometown, i thought i would probably enjoy the references to it and wanted to support another hometown gal. However I was totally blown away by Ellie’s writing, i genuinely loved this and can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been working my way through this for several months now. It's by a canadian poet, so I really wanted to like it, but a lot of the early poems were beyond me. I know poetry is all about interpretation and maybe I'm just not good at it, but I enjoyed the second half of the anthology more because I felt like the poems provided more context and themes were carried through multiple poems, which made them more relatable. The earlier poems were a bit too abstract for me.

[Steph Percival · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sublime poetry collection which includes this divine line: “These days I don’t know what’s me, what’s inherited, a dream, the Internet”

[S.E. Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Possible minimal spoilers ahead, as I reference an interview I read.***

I've been editing heavily over the last few days, and when I edit, I get b*tchy. I'm sorry if that's a little too honest or a little too vulgar. I decided to take a break and wander the net searching for readable material before I threw my laptop through the back patio window.

I should note, I join a lot of Facebook groups related to writing, and today I happened to cycle back to a local page and was rewarded with a gem of an interview about Ellie Sawatzky by the Ormsby Review regarding her debut book of poems, None of This Belongs to Me.

I'd like to write something articulate and beautiful here, but I doubt I could do it justice. I can only tell you I found myself connected to the poet's view of what poetry meant to her. As though we traveled the same wavelength in this vast universe. Though I think she may be vibrating at a higher frequency. I'm at the low end of the tuning fork, grumbling over edits.

In the interview, Ellie Sawatzky spoke of how she interacted with the world based on the poetry she wrote and how it helped her make sense of the things she experienced. At least, this is the heart of what I thought I heard her saying. She goes a lot deeper into themes stating that she was trying to understand her life as hers within the framework of late-stage capitalism.

As I periodically do, this caused me to think – Who am I if I am not a specific profession? Or if I don't even belong to myself because I am a mother, a wife, a grandmother, an aunt?

She makes an interesting observation and states that even the flowers don't belong to themselves. Something I can attest to as I witness their beauty for sale in festive floral arrangements.

Or my poignant recollection of the seven-dollar bouquet of Calla lilies I bought to hold during my husband and I's wedding ceremony. We had a fake set, and I meant to grab them but forgot and ended up having to rush out to get this bouquet at Safeway. In my hurry, we created a memory of indelible worth. I can still see the blooms in my hand as I rounded the corner of our kitchen on my way to becoming a bride.

I can visualize their exquisite forms held close in a vase of water on my kitchen table while we were on our honeymoon, how they bloomed so beautifully that week and how their distinct fragrance permeated the entire house when we returned. What a gloriously unexpected wedding gift to the new bride from the creator of all the flowers. I was grateful then, and I am touched even now. All because of a line in a review where the poet noticed something I took for granted.

That even the flowers do not belong to themselves.

The cover art for the book None of This Belongs to Me is gorgeous in its simplicity and artfully speaks to the vein of how each of us is made up as a collection of experiences (at least, this was my interpretation of the cover).

She also talked about how some people took photographs, kept journals, or retold the same stories. She spoke of how we are engaged in memory keeping and how poetry for her was a relevant way to keep track of time. How there are layers of memory associated with each piece, and I thought if one line in an interview could tug my heartstrings so thoroughly. The thoughts expressed resonate so profoundly – it's a book that needs to be on my shelf, and I can't wait to see what else the poet brings to me out of her treasure store of memories in the form of poems.

Hopefully, the review will show up here. I'm not affiliated with them, but they are the reason I found the book in the first place, so... credit where credit is due. https://ormsbyreview.com/2021/11/20/1...

I received my copy of this book from Mobius Books in Port Alberni, BC and consumed it in nearly one fell swoop.

My favorite page 28, Boy Next Door. The line 'And now his own mother doesn't know where he got to, what form of shelter he finds at night.' Gutted me to my core for reasons more personal than I care to share here.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

None Of This Belongs To Me is an illuminating debut! At once intimate and engaging, Swatzsky explores coming of age in a time of climate peril and information overload. On sorror, and nostalgia, the aching need for connection, and belonging in an uncertain world. Enjoyed!

Thanks to the publisher for sending me this book, opinions are my own.

For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Katrina L · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

As someone who has recently been delving into poetry, I thought it would be beneficial to start reading more poetry written by Canadian authors. This collection is especially beautiful and captures the landscape of a coming-of-age narrative that explores socioeconomic topics and femininity. I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the poetry collection with which I kicked off The Sealey Challenge 2022, a challenge (started by American poet Nicole Sealey) to read 31 poetry works in the 31 days of August. This collection was a strong start to an at times daunting but memorable month of reading.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie is a genius and I'll read anything she writes!!