Satched

by Megan Gail Coles

Named after a local word meaning “soaked through” or “weighed down,” Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist Megan Gail Coles’s debut poetry collection, Satched, is a vivid portrait of intergenerational trauma, ecological grief, and late-stage capitalism from the perspective of a woman of rural-remote, Northern, working class, mixed ancestry.

Honest, penetrating, and often darkly comic, these poems explore the extraordinary will it requires to stay alive in the face of economic precariousness, growing inequality, and prevailing dissatisfaction. With a fierce dedication to place, the collection explores the conflict inherent to individualistic priorities and collective needs present in a hyper-commodified Newfoundland and Labrador. Satched demands compassionate advocacy for all as it resolutely strives for clarity and acceptance while celebrating the momentary glimpses of joy in the path toward shared values and resilience.

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Nonfiction

133 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 7, 2021

About the author

Megan Coles is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and the National Theatre School of Canada. She is co-founder and co-artistic director of Poverty Cove Theatre Company. Megan is currently working on a trilogy of plays examining resource exploitation in Newfoundland and Labrador titled Falling Trees, Building Houses and Wasting Paper. She is a member of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, Playwrights' Guild of Canada, Playwrights' Atlantic Resource Centre and Playwrights' Workshop Montreal. Her completed plays include Our Eliza, The Battery and Bound. Megan, originally from Savage Cove on the Great Northern Peninsula, currently resides in St. John's where she works at Breakwater Books. Eating Habits of the Chronically Lonesome is Megan's first fiction.

Reviews

[sea petit · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have never felt so uncomfortably seen and understood by someone i have never met. this collection simultaneously makes me yearn for my home on the gnp and also reminds me of why i was so eager to leave.

[K.R. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan Gail Coles’ poetry collection Satched is as stunningly frank as her breathtaking 2019 novel Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club.
Images taut as stretched tendons trace the worlds of the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten and the taken-advantage-of across a harsh coastal existence of lean families and subsistence lives, and ultimately of home.

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angry poetry is my favourite type of poetry. Drop an 808 drum behind this and it would read as East Coast battle rap. Megan Gail Coles’ collection takes aim at misogynists, capitalists, polluters, and racists and explodes in fiery rage at the whole damn system. There’s also a beautiful, fierce love of family, place, and culture that roots the book in a warmth that is more than just the embers of her wrath. I’ve spent the last four months in Newfoundland, a truly special place, and I’ll always associate my time here with this book. I haven’t read SMALL GAME HUNTING yet, but it’s unavoidable now. Coles is definitely a writer to watch.

[🖤 livingdeadgill 🖤 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helped quell a bout of homesickness and nostalgia.
These lines really hit home:
“We stopped practising our culture by accident”

“Our island is caught in perpetual mourning of collectively felt premature death” - this especially ties into how I feel every time I speak to my family back home and constantly hear about illness and death

[avoicefromthelighthouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often that I devour poetry with the same enthusiasm I would a novel, but this book, okay... I couldn't put it down. I felt so seen. The friends I shared these poems with felt so seen. I want to hug this book. It's angry and beautiful and unafraid to be afraid.

[Marisa Gettas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional collection of uniquely Canadian poetry—more specifically, that of Newfoundland and Labrador. The author is from there and this collection is a realistic and sometimes scathing feminist portrayal of poems about racism, Indigenous issues, capitalism, domestic violence, and life on ‘The Rock’.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally go for poetry, but a beautiful friend sent me this for Christmas, and I loved it. It is timely and so refreshing to see some of my own thoughts and feelings put down in such beautiful words.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this poetry! Can’t wait to read her fiction next!

Thank you to House of Anansi for my gifted copy!

[abatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Initially I liked this a lot, but then I lost interest in the middle before hitting a few really good poems again at the end.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[claude · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love local poetry <3
feeling seen and understood