{"id":1004,"date":"2020-06-23T09:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T14:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/?p=1004"},"modified":"2020-06-22T20:03:49","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T01:03:49","slug":"brevity-and-memory-on-billy-ray-belcourts-a-history-of-my-brief-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/brevity-and-memory-on-billy-ray-belcourts-a-history-of-my-brief-body\/","title":{"rendered":"Brevity and Memory: On Billy-Ray Belcourt\u2019s \u201cA History of My Brief Body\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sometimes, a book comes along, and it commands that you dig into it with a pencil, highlighter, or post-its. You\u2019re hungry to eat it up, and your brain enjoys the meal so much that it\u2019s like the best food coma you\u2019ve ever had. This is Billy-Ray Belcourt\u2019s\u00a0A History of My Brief Body<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was fortunate enough to attend Belcourt\u2019s zoom interview with Hanif Abdurraqib earlier in May, where the esteemed writer asked Belcourt intriguing questions about the book\u2019s content, primarily focusing on Canada (Belcourt\u2019s home country) and identity. A compelling motif throughout the conversation was a meditation on memory, where Abdurraqib said at one point of the United States, \u201cI feel like we are a country obsessed with proof, and a country obsessed with forgetting.\u201d Belcourt agreed, astutely remarking that Canada as well suffers from \u201ccultural, historical amnesia.\u201d In other words, both countries are adamant about preserving history through a perspective that paints their pasts in a certain (positive) light, as showcased in the monuments, statues, and even outdated textbooks they\u2019ve kept that fifth graders learn from in their history classes. Consequently, the two countries are reluctant to remember\u00a0comprehensively<\/em>, to recall these significant periods\u2019 or figures\u2019 counterparts (i.e. the whole story). Therefore peoples’ histories, their\u00a0bodies<\/em>, are lost. This is what Belcourt, as a queer Canadian \u201cNDN\u201d (Native Indian), incisively demonstrates in his collection of essays: to remember is to look in the mirror, to no longer rest in blissful ignorance, to finally face the horror that has paved the way for their (Canada\u2019s and the United States\u2019) present realities. Because both of the authors write in part to directly address this cultural amnesia, to raise the voices of and breathe life into queer BIPOC stories, they wonder if they, too, will work \u201ca lifetime of reminding due to an eagerness to forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they persist nonetheless, because they also write for themselves, for healing, for (self) liberation. What Abdurraqib admires about Belcourt\u2019s new collection, I do as well: Belcourt breaks the constraints of linearity, writing in any which way he wants, free to explore the realms of his past, cultural theories, and personal optimisms in whatever order he pleases. There is a section that alphabetically defines key terms relating to being queer and NDN; there are fragments where he recalls forlorn love affairs with strangers; there is even a brief moment where he writes upside-down. It is clear he has read and admired the work of Maggie Nelson and Ocean Vuong (they are honored in the book). Nelson\u2019s prose-poetry style and grappling with theory in\u00a0The Argonauts<\/em>\u00a0and Vuong\u2019s techniques of shifting between poem and action in\u00a0On Earth We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous<\/em>\u00a0are reminiscent throughout Belcourt\u2019s text. Through this modulating, liquid narrative mode, the reader is\u00a0also<\/em>\u00a0unfettered, as if his words are humming to them, encompassing them, like meditation chants rather than stagnant plot points. Belcourt is, after all, a poet.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from exquisite, propelling prose and a commanding, lovable voice, Belcourt\u2019s sequence of essays are vital to undressing Canada and, ultimately, to understanding oneself as multiplicitous. Endearing questions, and even more endearing answers, are posed. I was taken at every turn, trusting Belcourt to live up to what I knew would be accomplished just from having read the first page, and I was not let down. A remarkable feat, and it will be a long-time favorite.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set to release July 14, 2020. Mark your calendars, or you can preorder by calling or emailing us<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, a book comes along, and it commands that you dig into it with a pencil, highlighter, or post-its. You\u2019re hungry to eat it up, and your brain enjoys the meal so much that it\u2019s like the best food coma … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2959,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[94,92],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1011,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions\/1011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}