The Crooked Good

Publisher's Description (Kegedonce Press): Poetic tales that unfold through the voice of ê-kwêskît, Turn-Around Woman–tales imbued with vital themes of Indigenous experience: culture, language, colonialism, residential schools and more. The poems of The Crooked Good are threaded throughout with words, phrases and verses in Cree; its personal stories framed within the fireside tales of Rolling Head Woman, who is both nightmare and culture hero. Evocative, moving, and powerful poetry from a master poet. This brand new third edition (2021) has been beautifully redesigned and includes a new foreword by Kimberley Anderson, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Relationships at the University of Guelph. Louise Bernice Halfe was named Parliamentary Poet for Canada in February of 2021.

Author Biography (Kegedonce Press): Louise Bernice Halfe, whose Cree name is Sky Dancer, was born in Two Hills, Alberta. She was raised on the Saddle Lake Indian Reserve and attended Blue Quills Residential School. She first published her poetry in Writing the Circle: Women of Western Canada. She has since published four poetry collections, with a fifth to be released in 2021. A retrospective of her work, Sôhkêyihta, was published by Wilfrid Laurier Press in 2018. Blue Marrow was first published in 1998 and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Poetry, Pat Lowther Award, and Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award. Halfe, whose works are well known for their inclusion of Cree language and teachings, served as poet laureate of Saskatchewan, only the second person to do so. She has been awarded three Honourary Degrees of Letters, from Wilfrid Laurier University (2018), the University of Saskatchewan (2019) and Mount Royal University (2021). She works as an Elder at the University of Saskatchewan where she is a consultant in several departments. In 2020 she won the Cheryl & Henry Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence and was awarded a lifetime membership with the League of Canadian poets. She lives just outside of Saskatoon.

Resource type: Book (Poetry)

Age recommendation: Grades 10-12, post-secondary

Keywords: Indigenous experience, culture, language, colonialism, residential schools, Cree, poetry, ê-kwêskît, Turn-Around Woman, tales, Rolling Head Woman, histories, identity

Year of publication: 2009

Publisher information: Kegedonce Press