a beautiful rebellion

by Rita Bouvier

These poems speak with a fierce tenderness of many aspects of the poet?s life: a childhood spent on the banks of the Churchill River, the death of a beloved one, the struggle to try to find forgiveness for wrongs done to her people and the weariness of trying to redress those wrongs. a beautiful rebellion reaches one hand back to Louis Riel and one hand ahead to future Métis generations. There is a quiet power?riverine, deep, unstoppable?that flows through these words

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous

72 pages, Paperback

Published April 10, 2023

About the author

Rita Bouvier was born and grew up in Ile a la Crosse, Saskatchewan, on the Churchill River System. Although she currently resides in Saskatoon, she remains strongly connected to her roots in Northern Saskatchewan.
Bouvier is an educator and a writer. She has published two collections of poetry with Thistledown Press, Blueberry Clouds (1999) and papîyâhtak (2004), and has been nominated for several Saskatchewan Book Awards. Bouvier’s poetry has been translated into Spanish and German, and her work has appeared in literary anthologies, musicals, and television productions. In 2008 the Gabriel Dumont Institute published the collaborative children’s book Better That Way with artists Sherry Farrell-Racette and Margaret Gardiner, based on the title poem from papîyâhtak. Bouvier lives in Saskatoon.

Reviews

[Tristen Durocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poems are gentle meditation on life in Saskatchewan from a Metis perspective. I appreciate their tranquil stillness at times but capacity to address difficult social and political issues afflicting humanity in the 21st century - from talks of corporate destruction of lands for profits, pandemic, isolation, loss - there is beauty in reminders that for all the beauty in life we also have hurt to heal. I would say the poets voice is a gentle balm and a affirmative reminder that another person cares about these issues to.