Blueberries and Apricots

Publisher's Description (Mawenzi House): 
In this, her third volume of poetry, this Aboriginal writer from Quebec again confronts the loss of her landscape and language. 

On my left hip 
a face 

I walk 
I walk upright 
like a shadow 

a people on my hip 
a boatload of fruit 
and the dream inside 
women and children first 

“A cry rises in me and transfigures me. The world waits for woman to come back as she was born: woman standing, woman powerful, woman resurgent. A call rises in me and I’ve decided to say yes to my birth.”

Author Biography (www.natashakanapefontaine.ca): 
Natasha Kanapé Fontaine is an Innu writer, poet and interdisciplinary artist from Pessamit, on the Nitassinan (North Shore, Quebec, Canada). She lives in Tio'tia:ke - known as Montreal. Her poetic works and essays are recognized and acclaimed by critics, travel the world, translated into several languages and are studied at several levels in schools in Quebec and elsewhere. In 2017, she received the Rights and Freedoms Award for her poetry and her contribution on bringing people closer through art, writing, performance, dialogue - for future generations to grow through sharing, respect and exchanges between cultures. At only 29 years old, she was already amongst the public figures who took part into the recognition of the Indigenous peoples of Quebec, in Canada and elsewhere in the world. In 2021, she received the grade of Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres de la République française. She works as well as a translator, screenwriter, consultant on Indigenous literature and a sensitivity reader.

Resource type: Book (Fiction/Poetry)

Age recommendation: Grades 7-9, 10-12, Post secondary

Keywords: landscape, language, resilience, poetry, culture, identity, loss, truth and reconciliation, colonialism, politics, francophone, French, Innu, Quebec, Eastern Canada, trauma, resiliency, multilingual, grief

Year of publication: 2018

Publisher information: Mawenzi House